


A Wolf Among Sheep

by TheNocturnalHermit



Series: The Legacy Trilogy [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Bloodlust, Brother and sister relationship, Explicit Language, Family Feels, Gen, Graphic, Pack Dynamics, Violence, allusions to rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 03:59:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 55,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9159877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNocturnalHermit/pseuds/TheNocturnalHermit
Summary: A city run by a gang of bloodthirsty monsters. A young man spending his days blending in with the masses. Two halves of his psyche fighting for dominance. There's been no escape for years, and people have suffered greatly beneath the thumbs of a mad pack. But Conri is determined to find a way out. For himself and his sister. If only he could escape the notice of the monsters that lurk in the dark.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Oh look at that, a story that doesn't have anything to do with ATLA. Amazing...
> 
> Be forewarned, this series is going to be violent. Though I'm not sure if it actually deserves the explicit rating. I'd rather err on the side of caution, though, just to be safe.

Prologue

He paused in his writing, ears tuned to the faintest of sounds; a creaky stair, a tap against the window, the hiss of blood soaked breath creeping down his spine… It wasn’t for nothing that he had holed up in a building where an entire floor was abandoned, save for himself. All the better to hear any stray noises that didn’t belong. He let out a soft sigh and focused back on the letter he had started to write, his urgency making the script barely legible. But then again, he had very little time to spare.

  
Ulric’s mind turned unwillingly to his wife and young children, his heart aching as he recalled the sight of their frightened facades staring out at him as they left in the cab he had called for several hours before. His wife, Isra, had known a day would come when she and their children would have to flee, ever since Lycus had joined the Order and began poisoning the minds of the others. That day had come upon them all too quickly. Regardless of the tense circumstances, Isra had insisted Ulric come with them to her mother’s home in the countryside.

  
“We will be far safer with you, you know that!” she had argued, rocking their fussy daughter in her arms while their oldest child looked on with solemn eyes.

  
“And _you_ know I can’t do that! They’d just hunt us down all the faster. They have no knowledge of you or our children, and we must keep it that way. It is decided, so don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

  
Isra had dropped her argument, but the veil of unshed tears remained in her eyes even as they embraced for the last time, holding each other for so long that their son began to cry, sensing the tension within the room. As Isra turned to comfort him, Ulric gazed at his family with a mixture of love and sorrow. His son would inherit a heavy burden when he became older, a burden that Ulric would not be able to guide him through. But plans had already begun to form in his mind to remedy that, and hopefully they would help in some way. For the sake of his son, he had to hope so.

  
Ulric heaved a sigh and ran a hand over his tired face, the scruff of his beard scratching his skin as he did so. After several more minutes of writing, with many pauses in between to listen for any foreign sounds, Ulric sat back and folded the papers together, tucking them away into an envelope. He then stood up smoothly, despite the hours he had spent hunched over the desk, and made his way to the entrance of the shabby apartment where he donned his dark jacket and headed out.

  
The streets were bare of any life. Not surprising considering everyone was quickly learning to stay out of the way of the Order during these hours. To be caught off guard by the likes of them meant certain danger. Ulric glanced around sadly as he walked to his destination. He had been trying for years to prevent this very situation. He had been so close to making a treaty, to uniting the Order and the people of this city together in harmony. It was not an unheard of idea. His best friend had mentioned several other cities who had signed peace treaties with other groups, and life was now running smoothly for them all. This was a time of enlightenment, and although Ulric’s kind had had some hardships in the past, he had never wavered by getting revenge. He had been patient and resilient, and his efforts had nearly paid off.

  
But his pack, which had been so close to falling in line with Ulric, now balked at the idea. Since the arrival of Lycus, the strange rogue that seemed to have just sprung up into existence, his men had started to succumb to a damnable bloodlust. Instead of hunting in the forest to the north, as they had always been doing since Ulric had risen to power, they had begun hunting right within the city. Lycus’ poison was subtle, gently corrupting one member at a time. Ulric had spent the last few years of his life trying his best to stem the flow of his sickness, attempting to bring back the brothers he once knew and trusted. But now…now they all seemed to be lost to a power against which he stood little chance. And the people of the city could not help. Many were too terrified to even think of such a suicidal action on their part, opting instead to live a life of looking down at their feet and glancing behind their backs, waiting in terror for something evil to befall them.

  
The local news station for the city would always report the killings as “tragic accidents”, never alluding the fact that it was Lycus and his band of monsters that had done the deed. Ulric knew why; the deranged man had the intelligence to know who to kill straight off and who to keep around using mass amounts of money that, to this day, Ulric had no idea where he had gotten such fortune. The battle was being lost at an alarming rate, and it would only be a matter of time before Ulric would be taken care of once and for all. He took comfort in knowing his family would be safe, far away from the madness that was turning Aevum City into a bleak and terrible place to live. There would be no help for anyone anymore. Lycus would see to that.

  
After walking for several blocks, lost in his own brooding, Ulric made it to the post office. Looking around, his ears alert for any stray noises, he deposited the letter into the outgoing box. It landed with a soft thump at the bottom, and he felt some of the tension he had been carrying around for the last several weeks ease away. At least this part was done.

  
He turned around and started walking again with no clear destination in mind. Ulric lifted his head and gazed up at the night sky, half hidden by the eerie clouds that floated silently past. It was his favorite time of year, where the trees were nearly devoid of their leaves and frost would litter the ground in the early mornings. It was a time of rest and quiet.

  
Ulric allowed himself a small smile as he saw the half full moon come into view. In a few weeks it would be full. Then, the change would be unavoidable. He always made sure to be deep in the forest at that time. The Order may be unable to resist their newly awakened bloodlust, but he had maintained control over himself and his shadow self. Not that the beast would be clawing at the surface just to get to a warm body, teeth begging to dig into soft flesh and taste that first sweet burst of blood. His shadow self seemed just as disgusted by the acts of their former brothers as Ulric was, a soft growl echoing in the back of his mind whenever Ulric thought back to those poor victims.

  
He passed through the downtown area of the city, where most of the affluent neighborhoods were located, and entered the more decrepit blocks that were scattered along the outer ring. Ulric gazed around at the shoddy homes, many of which stood dark and cold as if they were empty. But he knew better; his nose could detect the stench of warm and dirty bodies living within the buildings, huddled close to maintain some semblance of warmth and safety.

  
A shuffling noise, barely discernible to any normal person, reached Ulric’s ears at that moment. For the barest millisecond his pace stuttered, head turned infinitesimally toward the noise. His shadow self reared up, sniffing the air and curling his lip back at the all too familiar musk. Ulric could barely suppress the bitter grin that flashed across his face.

  
It was when he walked by a dark alleyway that he was jumped. He did not fight his captors even as they manhandled him into the empty darkness, landing unnecessary punches and kicks to his body. It would have been useless to resist, he knew. The time he had been waiting for had come. At the far end of the alleyway they dropped him unceremoniously to the filthy ground. Ulric sat up on his knees, brushing off his jacket casually and looking around at the other men, ignoring a rapidly bruising eye socket.

  
“Evening, gentlemen,” he remarked lightly.

  
“Can animals really be referred to in such a dignified manner?” another voice inquired, his accent dripping with malice. Ulric raised an eyebrow but did not deign to reply.

  
The other man chuckled as he entered the dim light, his features sharpened by the shadow self that he was allowing to the surface. Ulric resisted the urge to snarl at the clear challenge in the younger man’s eyes. He would not be drawn into this pathetic game. He refused.

  
“What do you want, Lycus?” Ulric asked wearily.

  
“I want many things, Ulric. But that’s not really the question here, is it? No, a better question would be what do I _deserve_?” Lycus grinned, his canines sharper than they should have been in his human skin. “And to that I have an answer all ready for you, if you would like to hear it.”

  
“What you think you deserve and what you actually deserve are two very different things,” Ulric muttered, his eyes boring into the other man’s.

  
“Tut, tut. You may be an old dog, but there‘s no reason to have the manners of one,” Lycus chuckled, making the other men around them chuckle as well, eager to please.

  
“If I’m really an old dog then why didn’t you just confront me alone?” Ulric asked, turning his head slightly to gaze at the five others who were standing in a loose line behind him. They all met his stare with snarls, their arrogance practically tangible.

  
“Why take chances when I can just seal my rightful place as leader with the assistance of some very loyal subjects?” Lycus retorted, granting the other men a benevolent smile. “I am not stupid, Ulric,” he continued, pacing slowly in front of the older man. “You may be old, but I know you still have some tricks up your sleeves. You wouldn’t have been able to suppress your brothers for so long otherwise.”

  
“You sound bitter, Lycus.”

  
“Bitter doesn’t even begin to describe it. You are tempering what we are, what _you_ are! Muzzling us all like common dogs when we are _so_ much more. We are at the top of the food chain, and it is time for these pathetic sheep to really appreciate that fact. They have had their reign; now it is our turn.”

  
Ulric locked his jaw, refusing to rise to the bait. Lycus glared down at him before shaking his head with a grim chuckle and pacing out of his line of sight. When he returned, he was swinging a long and lethal looking dagger in one hand.

  
“Now, normally I would challenge you properly. But I’m beginning to suspect you do not deserve such an honor, nor do I have the time to properly teach you some much needed respect beforehand,” Lycus remarked as he toyed with the knife between long fingers. “However, I am not entirely unreasonable. There‘s still a chance for your redemption. Just acknowledge me as your superior master and step down as leader of this pack. Disappear from the city and prance about like the whipped dog you want us all to be so very much.”

  
“I think a better idea would be for you to go fuck yourself,” Ulric stated calmly. “We both know you’d never let me live outside of your control. So stop with the useless pissing and fight me like a real man.”

  
Lycus grinned toothily. “You’ve no idea how happy I am to hear those words,” he hissed.

  
For a long moment, both men merely stared at one another. Then, with lightning reflexes, Lycus leapt forward. But Ulric was faster, jumping to his feet and catapulting over the other man. He allowed his shadow self to rise to his aid, and together they were able to dodge every swing of Lycus’ blade. The other man snarled deeply, his shadow self clawing at the surface as well, desperate to overthrow the pack alpha once and for all. The remaining men stayed back, pacing along the walls and watching with barely veiled bloodlust.

  
Lycus lunged again at Ulric, who ducked underneath his arm, swinging back around as his shadow self morphed his nails into claws and grazed the tender flesh of the other man. Lycus bared his teeth and kicked out with his leg, the extra strength from his shadow self successfully delivering a painful blow to Ulric’s hip and snapping the bones into bits. He stumbled into the solid wall of men, all whom laughed and howled at his suffering, pushing him soundly back toward their alpha.

  
Ulric snarled in pain and hate but forced himself to keep moving, dodging the younger man’s attacks and rushing forward at every window of opportunity. But he was tiring. His broken hip was slowing him down greatly, his earlier injuries magnifying under the strain of his fight. If he shifted fully into his wolf skin, he would be able to bear the injuries far better. But he could not allow Lycus that opening. He could not let the younger man win in the way he would prefer.

  
It was a foolish choice born of pride.

  
Another leap, another dodge, then a stumble. In that split second, a piercing pain bloomed from the back of Ulric’s neck. His body locked up in shock as he collapsed to his knees. The older man could feel the warm ooze of his blood flowing freely from his neck and over his shoulder, dripping onto the ground. With shaking hands, he lifted them up to confirm this end, to feel for himself the object of his death. His fingers touched one end of the dagger as it protruded out of the side of his neck. Ulric’s shadow self was wailing in pain and sorrow, echoing the despair he could not emit even as his throat worked uselessly against the metal blade.

  
Lycus approached the older man, his eyes shining with manic glee as the old alpha suffered his slow death. He then knelt down next to Ulric, patting his head mockingly.

  
“There, there, old friend. Your suffering is nearly done,” he said in a sympathetic voice, though his face told a very different story. “Oh, there was one more thing I wanted to tell you. Dear me, what was it…? Oh, yes!” Lycus leaned in until his mouth was inches from Ulric’s ear. “I’ve sent a few trustworthy men to meet with that lovely wife of yours.”


	2. Thief

Thief  
Twenty Years Later

Conri lounged against the side of some fancy office building, the name of which escaped him, his hood up and all but invisible to the people walking by. He was good at that, never being the focus of anyone’s attention. Just another face, nothing more.

  
He eyed his target, a lanky businessman who was yapping on his phone while pacing along the sidewalk, occasionally bumping into the passersby. They scowled at him but did nothing, continuing on their path while grumbling under their breath. Conri’s sharp ears could pick up most of the conversation even from several yards away, and from what he could glean the man was complaining about the cost of installing new kitchen tiles in his home. Conri rolled his eyes; as if the man didn’t have money falling out of his ears wherever he went. His mannerisms were proof enough of that, not to mention where they were currently located which was in one of the more affluent neighborhoods of Aevum City.

  
His target finally got off his cell phone and began walking. Conri pushed himself away from the building lazily, tailing the older man. His eyes remained glued to the back of his crisp business suit, his other senses leading him around the mass of bodies with fluid movements.

  
Eventually the man stopped at a crosswalk, waiting with several other people to cross. Conri neatly slid into place behind him, and searched for the pocket containing his wallet. With the ease of practice that came from years of thievery, Conri dipped his hand into the man’s crisp pants and withdrew the fat object. Without looking down, he swiftly removed the cash, which to his hands felt like several hundred bucks, and he tucked the wallet back into the man’s pocket.

  
The whole task took less than a minute.

  
The light changed and the mass of bodies began crossing the street. Conri allowed himself to be swept along, ducking down the opposite way the businessman was going once they were on the other side.

  
He wove his way through the crowded streets of downtown until he managed to enter the much less crowded area of his own neighborhood, which also happened to be part of the poor district. Conri walked a few more blocks before ducking into an empty alleyway. Once there, he took out the cash he had stolen and counted out the bills. He was close with his original estimate; the guy had had a little over two hundred dollars in his wallet.

  
Conri grinned at his find. He now had enough to pay off their landlord for another week with some leftover to help out their neighbors down the hall. With his mood greatly improved, Conri set off at a swift pace to the apartment building he and his sister had been living in since they left the orphanage four years ago.

  
It didn’t take too long before the apartment building loomed toward him, the rundown façade not at all welcoming. Conri had been loath to ask for lodging here of all places, but considering their status they had little other choice. Which even now boiled down to two possibilities; that shabby apartment or the streets.

  
Conri ducked through the creaky double doors and began taking the stairs two at a time. He had barely reached the first landing when a loud and grouchy voice yelled out to him.

  
“Conri! Is that you, you ungrateful bastard?”

  
He halted in his steps, a grimace adorning his face. Conri briefly debated on the likelihood of him being able to feign deafness and continue up the stairs to his apartment. But as the landlord’s voice rang out again, significantly more irritated this time around, Conri rolled his eyes and descended the stairs, walking down the hallway to where his landlord was stationed. He entered the room without knocking and glared at the portly man wedged behind his desk.

  
“You wanted something, Mr. Holloway?” Conri asked tonelessly.

  
“Yeah, your goddamn rent would be nice,” the man spat, his mustache quivering in time with his sour words.

  
Conri fished around in his pocket, making it a show for the landlord as he counted out the appropriate amount. He took a hundred from the wad of cash he had stolen and handed it over to the landlord. Mr. Holloway snatched it out of the young man’s hand with a sneer, peering over the bills closely.

  
“This isn’t going to cover your expenses for the week,” he said, tossing the money down onto his desk in disgust.

  
“What do you mean, that’s what I always give you!” Conri retorted impatiently.

  
“Yeah well the rent has gone up. Two hundred a week.”

  
Conri gaped at the landlord, enraged by this turn of events. “When did that happen?!”

  
“This morning, when those fuckers came running through town and upped the cost of living for most of us humble folk.” Mr. Holloway stroked his mustache in anger. “As if it wasn’t hard enough to be self sufficient in this giant ass prison city without them making even more trouble and killing off our suppliers! Now, you either pay up or you and your sister will be sleeping in the gutters tonight with all the fucked up addicts, and good luck living through the night with them! They‘d sell you both down the river in a second if it meant they would stay on the good side of that gang.”

  
Conri grit his teeth and shoved the rest of the money toward his landlord, stalking out of the office without another word.

  
He ran up the stairs all the way to his apartment on the ninth floor, his anger fueling his energy. He stormed down the hall, his mind wrapped in a haze of fury. He had passed one of the other rooms when the door opened and a tousled head poked out.

  
“Conri? Is something the matter?”

  
Conri turned, forcing his anger back as he looked at one of the few people he could count on, besides his sister.

  
“Sorry, Mrs. Garcia. I just found out the rent went up. I won’t be able to get you any extra cash this week.”

  
“We always appreciate your help, Conri, but don’t worry yourself about trying to get us extra money,” the older woman smiled, her eyes crinkling. “We’ve managed to get by in the past, long before you and your sister arrived.”

  
“I know. But I still feel bad,” Conri shrugged sheepishly.

  
“Don’t,” Mrs. Garcia patted his face affectionately. “You’ll age prematurely if you keep worrying so much.”

  
Conri chuckled and bid his neighbor a good day. He continued down the hall until he got to his apartment. After a moment of rummaging through his pockets looking for the key, he went to unlock the door only to have it fly open, revealing a small figure that looked more girlish than the twenty year old she actually was.

  
“You found out, didn’t you?” she asked simply, stepping aside to let her brother into the apartment. Conri only snorted, shrugging off his jacket and tossing it onto a hook nearby. “We could go somewhere else, you know," she continued.

  
“Yeah. Sure. And just where would that be, genius?” Conri looked around at his younger sister, his eyebrow raised.

  
“Somewhere. Anywhere. We just pack up and go,” she replied easily, crossing her arms and staring around at their apartment with a sour look on her face.

  
“Luna-”

  
“Conri, don’t even start. There has to be _some_ way to leave this city! I mean, how else do you explain all the drugs that keep getting piped in along with everything else?”

  
“Fine. Go ahead, try it. See how far you get with those assholes patrolling the borders. They run this city, Luna. They always have. They decide what comes in and what goes out.” Conri shook his head and left the living room in favor of the kitchenette, his stomach demanding sustenance. They had little to eat, but he made do with a tuna fish sandwich. In a space so small, though, he couldn’t shake his sister off so easily.

  
“I refuse to let those bastards run my life. This is no a way for anyone to live! At least if I could intern at the hospital-”

  
“No, Luna. You know the rumors that fly around about that hospital, there‘s no telling what that gang actually does there. But I‘ll be damned if I‘m going to let you get anywhere near that place and find out!” Conri took an angry bite out of his sandwich, glaring down at his sister.

  
“Oh, so if I break my leg then I’ll just have to deal with it?” Luna scoffed bitterly. “I didn’t work my ass off at that orphanage studying medicine just to do nothing with my degree! I’m earning shit from that convenience store, and you can’t keep stealing from people! Not only is it dangerous, it’s morally wrong!”

  
“I do what I have to for us. For your sake. I don’t pick pockets for the sheer joy of it, I do it so you can have a place to sleep and eat, however shitty it may be. As sad as it is, this is the best we can do.”

  
Conri finished his sandwich and stalked out of the kitchenette, retreating to the only space that was wholly his. As he made his way down the narrow hall, he heard his sister‘s angry footsteps following close behind.

  
“I am not a child, Conri! _I_ live here, too, _I_ contribute to this shithole, too! Why can’t you trust me to make a good decision for us?”

  
Conri stopped in his doorway and looked back at Luna, who stood there with her arms folded over her chest and her eyes spitting fire. He heaved a sigh and shook his head.

  
“I _do_ trust you, Luna. What I don’t trust is the rest of this city. You’re not working at the hospital. End of discussion.”

  
With that he slammed the door behind him, only to hear Luna’s screech of anger as she stomped off to her own room. Another slammed door, and then silence.

  
Conri ran his hands over his face tiredly. Lately he and his sister had been butting heads more and more often. He chalked it up to her inability to let others take care of her. And the fact that she was too smart for her own good. Luna had been like that for a long time, even during their years in the orphanage. She was not outwardly mean or troublesome, but Luna did have some issues working well with others, especially if they showed little interest in helping out with whatever exercise or project they were assigned to during their lessons. More often than not she would chastise the other kids in the home, which inevitably made her something of an outcast amongst most of them. She always had Conri, though, and he always made sure to be there for her when she needed him. Even if she was too stubborn to admit it. By the time he turned eighteen, Conri immediately set out to get custody of his sister, and they left the orphanage not long afterward to live on their own.

  
Conri sighed and collapsed on his bed, staring at the cracked ceiling with a grim face. He loathed this apartment, and the city they had to live in. He wouldn’t admit it to his sister’s face, but she had a point. They couldn’t keep surviving under the thumbs of the wild pack that had claimed ownership of them all. Conri felt a growl rise up within his chest at the thought of them, which he quickly stifled. He had never had the displeasure of meeting them directly, but he had heard stories. Plenty of stories. They were said to be cunning, easily manipulating the figureheads of the city and various members of the community. Everything they did was to benefit solely themselves, and everyone else were just pawns in a sick game of theirs. Because of this, despite all outward appearances to appear normal and happy, everyone went about their lives delicately, always looking over their shoulders. For they were ruthless, bloodthirsty monsters at their cores, lurking in the shadows of the night, howling with the sheer joy of the power they had over Aevum City. Conri grimaced, knowing that he shared that particular trait with those animals. He let out a humorless laugh; he was as much of an animal as they were.

  
Conri rolled over to his side as his shadow self rose slightly within to rumble deep in his chest. The rumbling was soothing, almost like a canine purr. Normally Conri would fight with every ounce of his being to stifle his inner wolf. He had been troubled by the creature, and greatly disturbed by his first change during the full moon after his twelfth birthday. Since then, he had distanced himself from people as much as he could during those changes that, as they happened every month, he knew could never be avoided. The caretakers at the orphanage had chalked it up to teenage hormones when he refused to leave whatever closet he had managed to lock himself into. He had spent many long hours of his life hiding in the darkness, pacing like the animal he was and waiting for the change to release him so he could resume some semblance of normality.

  
Despite his best efforts, though, his shadow self was always with him, even when the change wasn't forced upon him. He was his ears, his nose, his eyes, his sixth sense. Even now, when Conri tried to fight against him, his inner wolf crooned softly within his chest, sensing that his counterpart was disturbed and needed to rest. It was enough to force Conri to relax and fall asleep for a short time.


	3. Dynamics

Dynamics

_Laughter. Hideous laughter, overlaid with her screams and pleas for it all to stop. His heart was pounding, unable to do anything else but cling to the tiny bundle in his hands. “Stay hidden,” she had urged as she slathered both of them in copious amounts of mud. “No matter what, stay_ hidden _!” So he had, but that didn’t keep him from hearing it all as they descended upon her-_

  
Bang Bang BANG

  
Conri’s eyes snapped open, his shadow self snarling silently at the sudden pounding on the door. Before Conri could react further, his sister’s voice drifted through the worn wood.

  
“For God’s sake wake up, will you! I have to start my shift in a few minutes, and _you’re_ the one who insists on walking me there!”

  
Conri groaned, rubbing his eyes roughly with a fist. “Okay, hold on!” he called back. He heard a huff and the sound of Luna’s footsteps stomping away. Somehow, even though she was twenty years old, she had clung to the teenage way of communicating her annoyance through her feet. More than once their neighbor below them had made complaints about the noise. However, even though they weren’t Mr. Holloway’s favorite tenants by any means, he was a very lazy man and had never bothered to follow up on the complaints.

  
Conri sat up, tousling his dark hair as he got up from his bed. The last dregs of his dream slipped away, leaving behind the nausea he always felt from the haunting images. Conri normally didn’t have nightmares. Or dreams for that matter. But when they happened they tended to be vivid, and they always left a bad aftertaste.

  
Conri shook his head, determined to leave behind the images and focus on his sister. He hadn’t bothered to remove his shoes before his impromptu nap, so he simply walked out of his room and into the living room where his sister was waiting with barely any patience.

  
“Fell asleep again, hmm?” Luna asked with a raised eyebrow. Conri rolled his eyes and grabbed his jacket before ushering his sister unceremoniously out the door. They walked down the hallway, almost reaching the stairs when their neighbor’s door opened as they passed by.

  
“Buenos noches, kids,” Mr. Garcia greeted with a smile. “Off to work, Luna?”

  
“Unfortunately, Mr. Garcia,” Luna remarked with a longsuffering sigh. “And as always my faithful body guard is escorting me.”

  
“That’s what brothers are for,” the older man laughed. “Be safe you two.”

  
They waved goodbye as Mr. Garcia continued down the hall, going into the supply closet available to the tenants of that floor. Conri and Luna took the stairs, quickly leaving their apartment building behind and heading out into the darkening streets.

  
This time of day they were virtually the only ones around. Only a few people were walking along hurriedly, not looking at anything or anyone as they headed to their homes.

  
“I still don’t understand why that store even bothers to stay open twenty-four seven,” Conri remarked darkly as they walked.

  
“Because there are people around who do risk coming outside to get supplies, and having a store open all night is a great convenience. Hence, ‘convenience store’,” Luna replied dryly.

  
“It’s still too dangerous. Anyone from that gang could be lurking down these streets tonight.”

  
“Well, since you refuse to find a way out of this city, that’s just something we have to deal with,” Luna shot back with a hint of bitterness in her tone.

  
Conri refused to reply, not wanting to get into another argument with his sister twice in the same day. Instead, he focused on listening to the sounds around them, scenting the air for the telltale musk that hung around the pack and himself. That was one advantage of living in the poorer neighborhoods; not as many other bodies to hide their scent. In the downtown area, where there were a lot more people, it was far easier to hide in plain sight, which was also a blessing in itself since it gave Conri the opportunity to provide for his sister without alerting the pack. He found himself imagining, though, what would happen if one of the pack did find him. What would they do? Challenge him, most likely. The very idea made his shadow self snarl low in his throat, as if daring any of the pack members to come at them.

  
“Did you hear something?” Luna asked, stopping in her tracks to look around at the lengthening shadows.

  
“Uh, n-no…no I didn’t hear anything,” Conri managed to cough out, clamping down on his inner wolf. The creature bared his teeth at the treatment but did nothing more.

  
“Hmm…” Luna started walking again, but her posture was far more alert now. Conri stifled the urge to laugh; for all his sister did to put up a tough front, she was as cautious as anyone else.

  
They rounded a corner as the bright lights of the convenience store shone at them like some absurd beacon. There were a few people already inside, grabbing whatever they felt they would need for the night. Luna and Conri approached the doors, where Luna turned to her brother with her hands on her hips.

  
“Alright, body guard, we’re here. You can run along now,” she said with a shooing gesture of her hands.

  
“Yeah, yeah,” Conri rolled his eyes with a smirk. “You know the drill; call me if anything happens.”

  
“No shit, Sherlock,” Luna retorted, turning to go inside. Conri was heading back down the street when he was hit from behind, his midriff enveloped in a hug. “I love you even if you’re a pain in the ass,” he heard Luna mumble.

  
Conri chuckled and turned around to give his sister a proper hug. “And I love you even if you’re as stubborn as a mule.”

  
“Humph,” Luna scoffed, pushing him away and turning toward the automatic doors. “There’s only one jackass in this family, brother, and that is you.” She stuck her tongue out at Conri before disappearing inside.

  
Conri shook his head and started back down the street. The night had almost fully fallen by now, and he was the only one walking around. Unlike anyone else in his position, Conri was not afraid. His senses were sharp, and his reflexes quick. It was during these times he was actually grateful for his shadow self, if only grudgingly.

  
His mind turned inward to address his inner wolf, whose animal spirit seemed to gaze back with ancient eyes. Ever since his first change, Conri had been fighting with his lot in life, trying to deny what lay within his soul. And even after all this time his shadow self had never gotten angry or impatient. Sure, he’d get annoyed when Conri tried to stifle the beast, but he seemed to understand that his human counterpart was conflicted with what they were.

  
There were those rare times, however, when Conri would let his curiosity get the better of him and he would try to communicate with his shadow self. His inner wolf didn’t speak, but he could impress ideas and images upon the young man. It was an imperfect system, since Conri could not always interpret what his inner wolf was trying to say. The creature was always patient with Conri, however. It was almost as if he was desperate for the man to learn the wolf, so that they could become one. The very idea was too dangerous for Conri to even seriously consider, and he would pull away after awhile and continue on with his quest to quell the beast within.

  
Just then a noise scuffled to his right, and Conri turned his head just as his shadow self impressed the image of a rat onto the young man’s mind. He turned his mouth upward in a reluctant smirk. The wolf may have boosted Conri’s senses, but he was still much better at decoding the world around them.

  
_If we lived anywhere else_ , Conri mused silently to his inner wolf, _I might not fight you so much. But here, I see what those other monsters have done to these people. I know I would be grouped in with them if anyone found out about us. I can’t risk that; I have to be here for Luna. I have to protect her, even if it means denying what I…or, what_ we _really are._

  
His shadow self seemed to consider this before pouring a series of images into Conri’s mind. He struggled to sort through them, to try and figure out what the creature was attempting to say. He was given the impression of a winter landscape where a pack of wolves were running through the snow as they hunted, but there was little game to be found in the harsh weather. The wolves then separated, going different ways. Some flourished, able to find new hunting grounds and suitable dens while others suffered and eventually died. The rest became ravenous beasts, attacking anything and everything they came into contact with. Their bloody howls pierced through Conri’s mind, making him wince at the sheer madness behind the sounds.

  
Conri ran a hand through his hair, heaving a sigh. _I don’t know…something about pack hierarchy?_ he asked his shadow self hesitantly. The creature merely peered at him, silent as the night itself. _I can’t learn if you don’t help me,_ Conri remarked with annoyance. His inner wolf huffed, almost like a human sigh.

  
Conri shook his head, wondering why he bothered trying as he approached his apartment building. He was nearing the doors, readying to enter when he heard another sound. This one had his shadow self raising his hackles, snarling quietly. Conri didn’t need to ask what that meant; this signaled a dangerous enemy was lurking in the shadows. With inhuman speed, he ducked around to the side of the building, the dark alleyway concealing his form as he scanned the street.

  
_Please don’t let it be that pack, please don’t let it be that pack_ , Conri silently prayed to whatever deity would listen. He waited, still as stone while his senses were heightened to catch every scent, every sound, every sliver of movement.

  
The sound picked up again, closer. It continued and separate into two distinct footsteps; one heavy and prowling while the other was lighter, almost hesitant. Conri frowned, peering around the edge of his hiding place while his shadow self sniffed the air. He whined silently in his throat, his hackles rising even higher. Conri stifled a groan as the two men appeared in the light of the streetlamp several yards away.

  
“He’s still around…I smell him,” one of the men hissed, his nose to the air. He was a big guy, tall and broad with rippling muscles. With Conri’s sharp sight, he could see a long scar gracing the left side of the man’s face. Whatever had attacked him had blinded his eye, but Conri knew that only made him a more formidable foe to have survived such an attack.

  
“Maybe…maybe he’s not a threat, Varg. We’ve had plenty of others roam through the city before-” The other man, who had a soft accented voice was cut off by a snarl from the first one.

  
“I don’t recognize this one, you idiot! Besides, all those others reported to the boss. It’s the respectful thing to do. But this one…he’s lurking in these shit filled streets like one of those goddamn drugged up sheep.” Varg smiled then, his teeth glinting maliciously even in his human form. “Why don’t you go flush him out, Faolan? Redeem yourself a little.”

  
Faolan looked completely petrified at the thought of doing such a thing. Conri watched the exchange between these two, quickly realizing the dynamics. Varg was someone high up in the ranking; not the alpha himself but certainly close. Faolan seemed to be a very low ranking member, if not the lowest. Conri felt a twinge of sympathy for the other man, but it was only fleeting. He could not spare any precious time to pitying a man who was, for all intents and purposes, part of a gang of monsters.

  
Conri was shaken from his thoughts by a yelp. It seemed Varg had gotten impatient with Faolan and had hit him, roughly knocking him to the ground. The other man scrambled up and darted away from his pack mate‘s wrath, intent on carrying out his orders despite his clear unwillingness to do so. Conri tensed, shifting further back into the shadows as the man came closer. His inner wolf also tensed, but not to run away. He was shocked to find his animal companion wanted to fight the men, to tear and claw at them until they knew good and well to leave them alone.

  
_No! No, no, no,_ Conri said over and over again in his head. His shadow self glared at the young man, impressing an image of a lone wolf defending its territory against a pack that wanted to steal it. He then gave the image of Luna, smiling and laughing as they played a game in their shabby apartment. Conri grimaced at the wolf’s tactics, but he had to concede; if he let the two pack members venture any further into this part of the city, they would run right into Luna, and whoever else would be at the store this time of night. And he had to protect her. But it would be in his way.

  
Conri darted into the alleyway, taking the back route around the apartment building and appearing on the other side. Now Varg and Faolan were on his left side. He looked around, making sure they were the only ones from the gang that were nearby. Once satisfied, Conri barreled into a couple of trash bins, their rattling thunderous in the quiet of the night. He then ran off with heavy steps, pressing his full weight down onto the pavement with each footfall. A short moment later and he heard Varg shout at Faolan.

  
“This way, you dense fucker! He’s running toward downtown!”

  
Conri grinned and lightened his steps, skimming over the ground with practiced ease. He allowed his shadow self to direct him, ducking down alleyways and side streets to create a maze for their pursuers.

  
After nearly fifteen minutes, they made it to the downtown area. Conri slowed his pace, his ears pricked for the sound of the two men. He heard them, faintly, but they were gaining ground. Conri began his run again, darting along the streets. He was nearing the central square when a slight breeze stirred the air, bringing new scents to his nose. Conri almost tripped in shock, but his inner wolf took over then and directed them away from the scents. His heart was pounding now, and fear had laced into his blood, making his palms sweaty. He managed to haul himself up the fire escape of a nearby apartment building, much nicer than the one he lived in. After making sure no one would see him if they were to poke their heads out of their windows, Conri eased down onto his knees, staring with wide eyes toward the central square.

  
He had nearly come entirely too close to the rest of the pack.

  
After a few moments, he saw Varg and Faolan come running into view. They stopped when they saw the others, both of their heads bowing automatically in submission, though Faolan looked like he was almost folded in half.

  
“Brothers! Out for a night run, are we?” One of the members stepped forward. Conri’s shadow self impressed the image of a tall, lanky wolf; even in image form Conri could feel the sense of power and dominance radiating from the animal. _Oh,_ he remarked silently.

  
The alpha cocked his head, waiting for the other two to answer. Varg straightened up a little, not quite looking at his leader in the eyes. “We were hunting a stray, sir,” he said, his voice low and respectful.

  
“A stray? Well now, that is upsetting.” The alpha’s voice had the same accent as Foalan, only deeper and vibrating with malice. It made the hair on Conri’s neck stand up just as his inner wolf‘s hackles rose.

  
“I do hope you managed to catch him, right?” The alpha waited again for an answer, but neither of the men spoke up. Faolan only drew further in on himself, become as small of a target as possible. “Oh, you know what, I don’t actually believe you did considering the little bastard ran off that way and is, if my senses are correct, currently hunkered down on the fire escape near the seventh floor of that apartment building.”

  
Conri drew back in shock, his inner wolf snarling at the superior tone of the alpha’s voice. He then berated himself for fool; of course the alpha would be able to scent him, there was no one else around to mask his smell. He straightened up on his knees, muscles coiled to run at a moment’s notice.

  
“So, brothers, if you value your status as being part of this pack I suggest you get out of here, retrieve that slab of meat, and deposit it at my feet where it belongs,” the alpha commanded, a slight snarl behind the words. Varg and Faolan wasted no time in complying, quickly running toward where Conri was hiding.

  
His shadow self slammed his will into the man’s, and together they ran further up the fire escape, nimble on their feet. Within moments they arrived at the rooftop, but the wolf refused to stop. He directed Conri to the edge of the roof, jumping the gap between buildings easily.

  
Conri wanted to know if they had lost the two men or if they were still hunting them, but he didn’t dare look back. He allowed his shadow self to have control of his limbs, their souls almost molding into one being as they ran over several more rooftops. Eventually, as he came to the edge of one building he saw that the next one over was too far to jump, even with the help of his shadow self. Conri grit his teeth and leapt down onto the ground, their combined strength cushioning a fall that would have otherwise seriously injured him, if not outright killed him.

  
Finally they held still, listening intently to the night. Conri held his breath, wondering if they had actually managed to get away. For a few tense minutes, all that man and wolf could hear was the quiet noises of the night, along with the muffled sound of a television in the building across the street. Finally his inner wolf relaxed, impressing on Conri the feeling of safety.

  
He straightened up and started walking again, though his muscles felt like jelly. Conri had never run that hard before; it was exhilarating but at the same time could only be achieved when bonded closely to his shadow self. He grimaced at the idea, and at the knowledge that despite everything, he had liked it.

  
His shabby apartment came into view some time later. By now the night was half over, and Conri was exhausted. He hoped that nothing had happened with his sister while he was away. Inside, he took the stairs two at a time until he arrived at his floor. He palmed his key in his hand before unlocking the door and entering the apartment, glancing over to the phone sitting on the table by the door. There was no flashing light, so no missed messages. Conri breathed a sigh of relief and stumbled to his room, collapsing onto the bed.

  
He looked out the window, and from his position he had a perfect view of the sky. Away from the city he would be able to see far more stars, but the few he could see were good enough. He also noted with dread that the moon was nearly full; only a few more days before the change would occur, whether he was ready or not.

  
Conri’s shadow self seemed smug at the idea, and he resisted the urge to scowl in the darkness. He couldn’t blame the wolf, really. It wasn’t like Conri changed willingly during the rest of the month. Anything he could do to avoid it, he would.

  
His inner wolf pressed the image of the forest lining the horizon north of the city, along with a stab of longing that pierced right into Conri’s own heart. He gave a low sigh.

  
_You know we can’t. If Luna wasn’t around, sure. We could live in the forest and finally be at peace. But I can’t leave her, you know that._

  
His shadow self merely gazed at Conri, his emotions fathomless. The beast then curled up and began his canine purr. Conri smiled a little and allowed himself to be lulled to sleep, feeling almost content with the beast inside.

 


	4. Stalking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know today isn't Monday but I was too exhausted yesterday to do much of anything.

Stalking

“Hey. Hello? Conri… Conri, wake up!”

  
Conri jolted violently, his eyes flying open at the sound of the voice so close to his ear. He pushed himself away only to come face to face with a glaring younger sister.

  
“Sleeping again? Really?” Luna scoffed in disbelief.

  
“…Shit. What time is it?” Conri ran his hands over his face, his exhaustion still apparent.

  
“It’s half past five in the morning. Half an hour after my shift ended and half an hour after you were supposed to come walk me home.” His sister peered down at him imperiously, her arms crossed.

  
“Luna, I’m sorry. Really. I just laid down to relax and I must have fallen asleep.”

  
“Well, obviously,” Luna rolled her eyes. “Are you getting sick or something? You’ve been sleeping a lot lately.”

  
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Conri glanced up at his little sister. Her annoyance was still clear, but there was an undercurrent of concern there as well. She shook her head.

  
“You need to take better care of yourself, Conri. And don’t say you need to focus on taking care of me to bother with yourself, because we both know that’s a load of crap.”

  
Conri only grunted in reply, which earned a scoff from Luna as she left the room. He stretched luxuriously, his joints popping loudly. His muscles were sore, much more so than they had been last night. Conri’s shadow self gave a huge yawn and gazed blearily at his human companion.

  
“You and me both,” Conri muttered under his breath. He would love nothing more than to curl back up on his bed and sleep for a few more hours, but he knew that was not going to happen. Not with his sister nearby ready to henpeck him. So, with trepidation, Conri hauled himself upright and shuffled out to the little kitchenette. There, he set to making himself a meager breakfast of toast and butter. As he waited for the bread to toast he saw his sister standing by the living room window, glaring out into the street.

  
“The circus in town?” Conri asked jokingly.

  
“I wish,” Luna replied stiffly. She turned and her brother saw that she was rigid with anger. “Those assholes are here. In broad daylight!”

  
That grabbed his attention. Conri snapped upright, his inner wolf alert as well. He walked over to where his sister was and peered out the window himself. There, striding up and down the street as if they belonged, was the wolf pack from last night. Not nearly as many as there had been in the central square, but Conri recognized the alpha all the same. A shiver ran down his spine as his shadow self growled silently at the man who dared enter their territory uninvited.

  
“What the hell are they doing here?” Luna demanded aloud, jarring Conri out of his grim thoughts.

  
“I don’t know, but it can’t be good,” he managed to say. But he knew perfectly well why they were there.

  
His shadow self nudged Conri’s mind and showered him with various images; a wolf hiding younger cubs in a safe place; Luna’s smiling face; a wolf running headlong into a stray pack, fighting and clawing and snarling with a defiant will; the leering faces of the gang members; a tall, lanky alpha wolf glaring out at Conri with blood red eyes.

  
Conri shook his head, trying to make sense of the images. Distantly, he could hear Luna still talking to him, ranting about the gang being in their neighborhood.

  
“I mean, do they really have nothing better to do than stand there? Are their lives so goddamn dreary? Must be so exhausting being the bullies of the city, I’m sure! Jesus, people need to start standing up for themselves around here! I ought to go down there myself and give them a piece of my mind.”

  
Conri balked, whipping around to glare at his sister. “Don’t you fucking dare!” he shouted at her, more harshly than he had intended.

  
“Well what the fuck else am I supposed to do? I am so _sick_ of being stuck under their thumbs, it’s nauseating! Jesus, it‘s not like anyone else is going to do anything!” Luna threw her hands up and stomped off into the kitchenette, snatching up Conri’s long forgotten toast and angrily eating it herself.

  
Conri let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, his irritation igniting a headache. He spared another glance down at the pack, only to scoot away when he saw one of them stopped in their path and staring up at their window.

  
Another nudge from his shadow self reclaimed his attention, this time impressing an image of them leading the gang away from the neighborhood.

  
_They’ll just come back. They know my scent now,_ Conri reasoned to his inner wolf. The beast huffed and gave the same images from before. Conri frowned, trying to see the message behind them. He glanced over at Luna, who was still eating his toast with more aggression than necessary. That was when the message finally clicked into place.

  
_No, definitely not! I am_ not _leaving Luna just to face those bastards!_ Conri snarled at his shadow self. The wolf gazed at Conri, then gave him several new images: the decrepit streets of where they lived were red with blood, not a soul left alive; the downtown area was aflame with screams of terror rending through the crackling air; half wild men ran through the streets, howling unearthly cries and laughing maniacally; this same pack, traveling from town to town and city to city, attacking the residents and destroying other packs, spreading their poison as they went; Luna’s lifeless eyes gazing unseeingly up at a black sky as Aevum City lay abandoned and gutted, the stench of rotting bodies hanging heavily in the air.

  
Conri gave a violent shake of his head, trying to dispel the images. Hell, he was trying to dispel the wolf himself. He was then startled by a hand on his shoulder, whipping around to see his very much alive sister looking at him with concern.

  
“Conri? Are you okay? Look, I know I got a little ahead of myself but seriously you’ve never reacted like that before.”

  
“No, it’s not that I…I just need some air,” Conri muttered, heading for the door and grabbing his jacket as he went.

  
“What? Is now really the best time with those guys out there?” Conri didn’t respond, which only fueled his sister’s aggravation. “Conri! Don’t ignore me you were just saying, literally minutes ago, how unsafe it was for me and yet _you_ can go out there and be fine?!” Luna grabbed his arm, holding him back. Conri could have easily shaken her off, but he didn’t. He knew her concerns were valid.

  
“Luna, I’m not going out the front way. I’ll use the fire escape. I just really need to get out of here. Besides, a few hardened criminals aren’t going to stop me from bringing home the bacon,” he remarked in an attempt at humor. His sister remained stony faced, however, her frown deeply engraved into her expression.

  
“You know, now would be a great time to _not_ go picking pockets, Conri,” Luna said tersely, letting go of his arm. “But if your macho nature absolutely has to, by all means.”

  
Conri heaved a sigh. “Just stay inside. Please. I’ll be back later,” he tried to assure her. Luna merely shrugged and stalked off to her room, slamming the door.

  
Conri left the apartment, shoving aside his guilt to focus on the task at hand. His shadow self rose up, lending his senses as they walked. Passing by the Garcia’s apartment he heard the sounds of a TV inside, along with the laughter of their young son. Conri smiled, thinking fondly of the lively kid who managed to find happiness in these bleak times.

  
At the end of the hallway, right next to the stairs, was where the fire escape was located. After prying open the old window, Conri ducked out onto the rickety metal contraption, climbing down nimbly and landing on the ground within moments. _Now for the hard part_ , he thought to himself as he eased his way around the side of the building and into the alleyway.

  
If only he lived in a neighborhood that had more people roaming around. Never before had Conri thought to wish for such a thing. For so long he had managed to simply melt into the crowds, knowing of the pack but never coming into direct contact with them. He become skilled in hiding his trail, soaking up the myriad of scents that hung around the people that roamed downtown. But now they were mere yards away, his scent finally on their radar, and simply walking past would not do. Conri grit his teeth, trying to think. Dodging two of them had been difficult enough but now there were half a dozen, including the alpha himself. _How the hell am I going to do this?_ Conri asked himself despairingly.

  
His inner wolf gave him the image of the lone wolf attacking the pack once again, to which Conri suppressed a groan. _Stop suggesting that, it won’t work!_ he snapped at the creature.

  
Conri peered around the corner, seeing that the group was now standing in the middle of the street, talking amongst themselves. With his sensitive ears, he could make out their conversation, though it was of nothing useful to him. Merely reminiscing of past abuses they have doled out to innocent people. The alpha alone remained silent, his eyes scanning the street in both directions and occasionally pacing a few steps away from his pack.

  
Conri eased back into the alleyway, thinking hard. While it would be easier to just run out into the open, he knew the pack would be determined to not let him slip out of their grasp this time around. And Conri had a feeling that he wouldn’t be so lucky. If only he could send them his scent without being too close, he would be able to get a decent head-start on them when the chase inevitably happened. For the first time, he cursed the fact that the air was stagnant; being downwind of the pack would have alerted them and he could lead them away from his home and sister while still being several steps ahead.

  
His shadow self directed Conri’s attention to the back of the alleyway, where high fencing was erected. To any normal person, it would be impossible to scale. Conri gave a wry smile as he approached the fencing quietly, crouching down and then leaping into the air, using the wall of the building next to him as leverage to propel himself on top of the wall. A simple drop soon had him on the other side of the fence.

  
Without waiting for his nerve to break, Conri began to sneak around from alleyway to alleyway, climbing over the fences that separated properties until he was on the far end of the street his apartment was on. He allowed himself a moment to relax before shifting back into his cautious mode.

  
Both man and wolf peered over at the pack, now far away enough that he could barely make out what they were talking about. Conri stood there for lengthening moments, wondering if there was a way to go about getting their attention without sacrificing his hiding place. His inner wolf nudged the young man again and impressed the image of a group of derelict and rundown buildings, secluded from the rest of the city.

  
Conri blinked in surprise, then snorted a moment later with disbelief. _I am_ not _going anywhere near the Shells,_ he told the wolf point blank, balking completely at the idea. His shadow companion huffed and impressed the image upon him again. Conri resisted the urge to throw his hands in the air and give a loud groan; sometimes his shadow self just didn’t know when to give up.

  
_And how do you suggest I lead the pack that way?_ Conri asked the wolf sarcastically. The beast tilted his head to the side as if pondering the man before him. Then, he surged forward and took control of Conri’s limbs, propelling him into plain view for the pack to see.

  
_You son of a bitch!_ Conri yelled at his shadow self, but the wolf was already forcing him into a hard run. Conri couldn’t risk looking behind to see if the pack was hunting him, but he hardly needed to; their pounding footsteps behind him were proof enough.

  
Conri grit his teeth and poured his own will in with the wolf’s, their combined strength and speed carrying them away far faster than either of them could have achieved alone. The streets blurred before Conri’s eyes, but he knew this city like the back of his hand. Unfortunately, so did the pack.

He heard a barked order from the alpha, several yards behind him. Conri ducked down an alleyway as his sharp ears picked up the sound of several pairs of feet breaking away from the pack, going in different directions. His shadow self impressed the image of a wolf pack breaking up and maneuvering around to trap their prey. _I know, I know!_ Conri snapped at his inner wolf, pausing in a shadowy crevasse to catch his breath. It was short lived, for they both heard the pack on all sides of them, closing the distance fast, and with a heavy groan Conri pushed himself back into his hard run. Just as he made it out onto an empty street he was slammed into from the side.

His shadow self snarled violently as the pack member who had tackled them moved to pin Conri down, a feral grin plastered onto his weathered face. Conri growled, kicking the man violently in the stomach, the combined strength of him and his shadow self sending the pack member sprawling along the ground. He wasted no more time, scrambling up to his feet and taking off just as the rest of the pack appeared on the street. Conri could hear the alpha shouting at the man he had kicked, but his inner wolf quickly captured his attention. For the third time, he gave the image of the Shells to the young man, along with a scene that had the pack cornering them in a dead end alleyway. Conri grit his jaw, not wanting to go to the Shells but at the same time knowing that, if he continued to travel through these streets, the pack would most certainly trap him. With a defiant snarl Conri altered his path, heading west to where the abandoned nuclear power plant was. Within a short time, he had broken away from the main streets and was now running through the far more decrepit paths that would lead to the Shells.

  
After several moments Conri finally slowed down, not willing to venture any farther. It was known among the citizens of the city that a lot of potent chemicals and radiation still clung to the area where the nuclear power plant used to be, which had been abandoned after a chemical spill many years ago. It had never sat well with Conri that the city didn’t just up and move away from such an area. It was almost as dangerous as that pack.

  
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Conri could distantly hear the pack's pounding steps as they quickly closed the distance. He scanned the area for a way to evade their grasp and head back into the city, spotting a path to his right that was half strangled by creeping vegetation. Conri quickly ducked through, urging his tired muscles to keep moving forward. His wolf once again lent his strength, and they quickly managed to circle back into the hustle and bustle of Aevum City.

  
Once he arrived at downtown, Conri slowed his pace and began walking normally, blending in with the crowds easily even as he fought to keep his muscles from shaking so violently and forced his heavy breathing to settle. He threw his hood up and kept his head down his senses sharpened and searching for the pack. He wasn’t sure if they would come back this far just to get at him. He was betting on their preference for the darkness of night to carry out their rotten undertakings. But, even as he hoped against hope, he couldn't ignore the fact that they had been strolling up and down his street in broad daylight, searching for him.

  
Conri heaved a sigh and shook his head, trying to dispel the pack from his mind. After fifteen minutes of walking aimlessly, Conri began to relax, if only a little. His shadow self was also somewhat at ease, though his ears were perked up; the only vigilant part of the animal. With the tentative sense of security in place, Conri began his own hunt.

  
It took another few minutes before he spotted a likely target. Conri sidled close to them, completely at ease and setting a comfortable pace. His target, on the other hand, was not at ease.

  
She never stood a chance. She was a middle aged woman with two very bratty kids that kept her attention split between them and where she was walking. After several streets she finally relented and headed toward the central square, setting her purse down on a nearby bench to give her kids her full attention. It was almost too easy to reach into her forgotten handbag as she stood mere few feet away and take the money from it. Conri grinned at the cash wad, quickly counting over three hundred dollars in all.

  
Pleased with his spoils, Conri began to make his way back home. He scanned every face he passed, his nose sensitive to their scents. Sifting through the voluminous odors of perfume, cologne, sweat, tobacco, and more, he could not detect the animal musk that marked him and the pack as non-human.

  
He soon passed the invisible line that separated the well-off neighborhoods from the poor, entering the shabbier streets lined with even shabbier buildings. Conri straightened his back, his steps becoming less and less confident as he got closer to his apartment building. He was at his tensest when he rounded the corner to his street, his body coiled tightly to run.

  
The road was empty. The pack’s scent lingered, but it was a few hours old by this point. Conri forced himself to relax, his body practically deflating as he entered his building. He ran up the stairs, too relieved to pay much attention to his landlord‘s shouting as he passed by, reminding Conri of the rent for next week. He ambled his way down the hallway and knocked on his neighbor’s door. It soon opened to reveal the young Garcia boy, who grinned toothily up at Conri.

  
“Hey, Conri!” he greeted happily.

  
“Hi, Emilio. Your parents home?” Conri asked.

  
“No, they went to the store to get some groceries. They’ll be back soon though.”

  
“Well, could you give them this for me when they get back?” Conri reached into his pocket and pulled out two hundred dollars, handing it over to the boy. His eyes went wide at the amount of money.

  
“You can count on me, Conri!” he said excitedly.

  
“I always can. Have a good night, Emilio.” He ruffled the boy’s hair and waved as he left.

  
Conri entered his own apartment, hanging up his jacket and tossing his keys onto the table by the door. He walked over to the kitchenette to make something to eat, as his stomach was protesting loudly at the lack of food it had had that day. With everything that had happened, he had barely noticed how famished he was. _Another point for you_ , Conri mused to his inner wolf silently as he made himself a sandwich. The beast was far better at ignoring his hunger when he needed to.

  
After he had finished eating, he walked down the short hallway to his room, stopping by his sister’s door to listen. He heard the faint sound of music and smiled to himself; his sister could never fall asleep unless her songs were playing. Conri continued to his room, leaving his door open as he collapsed onto his bed. He didn’t bother to resist his shadow self’s crooning to help lull him to sleep. He was far too tired to fight anything.


	5. Phases

Phases

Luna’s voice roused Conri awake a few hours later. After grabbing a quick snack, he and his sister left the apartment and headed to her workplace. Once he went through his usual assurances that he would be back in seconds should anything happen, Conri walked back to their apartment, intent on getting some proper sleep.

  
He tensed slightly as he approached the building, but relaxed once he detected no foreign scents or noises. After one last quick sweep around the immediate area, Conri went inside and up to his own apartment. With a groan of relief he collapsed back onto his bed, falling fast asleep within seconds.

\- - -

_The cool night air ruffled his fur pleasantly. A deep thrumming within his chest signaled immense happiness. This was where he belonged, out here in the wild forests, free to roam wherever he pleased._

  
_He took a deep breath, which brought all manner of scents to his sharp nose, crisp and clear as if a light shone on every single source. With a shake of his fur he took off at an easy lope, his long legs carrying him over the forest floor like a silent shadow._

  
_Tonight was not a night for hunting. Tonight was a night for simply being. Every moment that passed was cherished and acknowledged; the darting of moths, the breeze that disturbed the leaves on the trees, the howling of other wolves, the skittering of smaller animals as they heard him approaching, rushing to find a safe haven from his might. It was all his to bask in._

  
_He paused for a moment, taking time to admire the inky black sky above him. The cold moon shone down upon the earth, lighting the way for him. He gave a silent homage to the moon, his only companion during his travels. The very thought caused a slight whine deep in his chest. But it was brushed away as quickly as it had come; no use pining for a forgotten past. He was strong and proud, the epitome of a survivor._

  
_With a huff he set off again, lengthening his strides gradually until he was running full-out. He reveled in the bunching of his muscles, how they glided easily under his skin, propelling him through the forest at a swift speed. Even in this he was nearly silent, only his deep and even breaths were heard by the cowering prey that hid in the underbrush._

  
_He was so enthralled in his run that he nearly missed the shift in the wind and the new scent that was brought to his nose. The strange aroma made him stop abruptly in his tracks. He turned his head fully to the wind, lifting his nose as high as it would go. This scent was different, unlike anything he had ever encountered before and yet he could tell immediately that it was dangerous._

  
_He swayed on his legs, trying to decide. His curiosity was potent, always had been since he was a young pup, giving his den mother more trouble than his litter mates. Age had granted him the necessary caution to survive but even so, this new smell was tantalizing in a way that had him wanting to go investigate further. He knew that he could be wary and silent, hidden well within the shadows. All he needed was a glimpse, just to confirm what this scent was and store it in his mind for the next time he came across it. Then he would know._

  
_With his mind made up he quickly set into a mile-eating lope, making a wide arc around whatever the source of the scent was. The closer he got the stronger it became, almost burning the sensitive skin inside his nose. It was the most unusual scent he had ever come across. Like a fire that was consuming several creatures, with an undercurrent of something sharp and bitter that stuck to his tongue. It made him want to turn tail and run the opposite way. But that was not what he did. He was a proud wolf; he ran from nothing._

  
_He continued on his path, getting closer and closer to the source, all the while the smell was beginning to suffocate him. It was not long before he began hearing a noise, a guttural cry that sounded like no creature he had ever heard before. He stopped in his tracks, wavering in his resolve. The beast screamed out like it was in horrible pain, but the smell was so potent and terrifying by now that he was loathe to continue. He gave a low whine deep in his throat; this was a mistake. He shouldn’t be here. Let the creature suffer, it was probably a dangerous animal anyway. He made to turn and leave, desperate to run back to his clean and familiar forest territory._

  
_But he could no longer control his limbs._

  
_A panicked snarl made its way out of his throat as he tried to jerk away from the overpowering scents and sounds, but his legs would not obey. He shivered, frozen in place as the beast began to make its way closer to him. The rustling and dragging of its body sounded heavy, as if the creature weighed an immense amount. The scent, too, became even stronger, threatening to overpower the wolf’s delicate nose and cause him to black out._

  
_Then the creature came into view. It was not crawling on its belly as he had expected it to be, but instead it stood tall like an angry bear, waiving long awkward limbs around as it stumbled along on two, thick stumps. The creature stopped short of the wolf, and leaned down from its immense height. He flattened his ears and growled viciously, determined not to let this beast get the better of him even as panic raced through his blood, making his heart pound in his chest._

  
_The creature, however, did nothing but stare at the wolf. Its eyes were small and beady, its face large and broad and rough as if it were covered in scales, though the rest of it seemed furry in areas and completely bald in others. It uttered something in its strange tongue and waved a long limb over the wolf’s frozen form. The air seemed to shimmer for a moment, startling him out of his panicked state. But only for a moment. That was when the space around him contracted, squeezing him painfully. The wolf let out a pitiful yelp, trying in vain to escape the invisible bonds. It felt as if his very bones were being crushed and ground together, all of his muscles tearing at their seams. The strange beast before him simply stood and stared, as if fascinated by his torment. Darkness began to engulf him; he couldn’t breath, couldn’t move, couldn’t make a single sound. Only the face of that hideous creature swam before his eyes as he fell into a black abyss._

\- - -

Conri woke to a sudden pain along the side of his head. He groaned aloud, slightly growling as he realized he had thrown himself from his bed and onto the floor. He lay there for a moment, still wrapped up in his dream. He had had it a few times in the past, and it never ceased to unnerve him, both being a wolf and seeing that monstrous creature. _Have I ever had a normal dream?_ Conri mused bitterly to himself.

  
He made to get up, yawning widely. He licked his lips, feeling rough fur and sharp teeth. Conri froze at that, and with much trepidation he looked down.

  
He was in his wolf skin, his black-ish brown fur bathed in the moonlight from his window. Conri spared a moment to relish the fact that his sister was nowhere in the apartment to find him like this. Then, he turned his frustration onto his shadow self.

  
_Why are we in this form?! The full moon is not due for another two days!_ Conri chided the wolf. The beast, now in majority control of their body, turned his head toward the window so that his human half could see for himself. Conri let out a groan that turned into a whine; the full moon gazed down at them from her place in the night sky, innocent as anything.

  
_Well that’s just fucking perfect_ , Conri grumbled angrily. His shadow self merely shook his fur and trotted over to the door. He rose up on his hind legs and pawed at knob, which refused to cooperate. He growled in annoyance and flicked his ears back.

  
_Having some trouble?_ Conri asked the wolf smugly. The beast huffed and dropped down on all fours, trotting over to the window instead. Conri always kept it open, even if only slightly, relishing the fresh air even in the bitter winter. The wolf stuck his nose into the crack and pushed upward, sliding the window fully open.

  
Satisfied, the wolf bounded out of Conri’s room and onto the narrow ledge outside. Conri nearly had a panic attack, seeing how far up they were. But his shadow self walked carefully and confidently around the side of the building, nimbly maneuvering by the other tenant windows and then landing onto the fire escape at the back.

  
Conri let out a sigh of relief. He and his animal companion looked around at the decrepit buildings, the night silent and bare of any life on the outside of those apartments. The wolf let out a whine, raising his head to the sky and observing the few stars that they could see. A breeze brought the many scents of the city to their nose, but in wolf form Conri could detect so much more. Distantly, he could smell the forest that lined the north, several miles outside the city. Even this far away he could detect the crisp and clear scents of the trees and the grass and the river.

  
His wolf needed no further prodding. He leapt down the fire escape, clattering on the landings so loudly that Conri feared they would awaken the other occupants of the building. Once on the ground his shadow self made a beeline north, running along the many alleyways and streets.

  
Conri listened intently, fearing that they would be discovered. His companion seemed to have thrown away all sense of caution, running flat-out to get to the forest. He felt a stab of pity for the creature; it must be terrible to be stuck with a human who refused to change into the wolf, and when he had no choice he refused to run out through open territory.

  
All the same, they would attract the wrong attention sooner or later at this rate. So Conri stretched out his will, taking over their shared body and pulling the wolf to a stop. His shadow self growled aloud, furious at the man for the first time in all the time they had been bonded. Conri shuddered at the power of this emotion, but he held his ground.

  
_We can’t go to the forest, you know that!_ Conri tried to reason with his shadow self. _It’s too dangerous to chance leaving the city, especially now._

  
His inner wolf gave another growl, low yet powerful all the same. This message was all too clear; they would get to the forest one way or another, pack be damned.

  
Conri groaned from his space within the wolf’s spirit, cursing himself for his lot in life. The wolf remained steadfast in his resolve, however, inwardly glaring at the man as Conri agonized over this decision his animal companion had made.

  
_Fine! Fine, we’ll go to the forest! But by the gods, be careful,_ Conri relented. His wolf companion practically radiated happiness as they set off once again, this time at a near silent trot. Conri kept urging his shadow self to stick to the darkness whenever possible, his senses on high alert for any trace of the pack roaming these streets.

  
He could feel the wolf’s impatience at their pace, and every so often he would put on a spurt of speed as they moved through the streets. Conri let it go, knowing that the wolf was at least trying to be stealthy.

  
Just as the central square was within sight, resounding screams echoed in the night. The wolf stopped, head up and ears pointed toward the source of the sound. Conri strained to hear anything more, but silence had followed in the wake of the cries. He was loathe to continue, desperate to head back to his crappy apartment and just sit out the night in his own room. It was familiar territory, and without the fear that around every corner they would run into a bloodthirsty wolf. Though, if the screams were any indication, perhaps the pack was occupied elsewhere.

  
His wolf counterpart seemed to shake himself out of whatever stupor he had been in for he headed determinedly forward, crossing the central square and making his way cautiously through the other half of the city, much to his human‘s chagrin. Conri was hyper aware of their time limit, constantly checking the position of the moon in the sky as well as any indication of where the pack might be lurking this night. He prayed that they would not stumble upon them accidentally, unable to stop himself from thinking of what scene they would encounter if such an occurrence were to happen.

  
A breeze flowed through the air, ruffling the dark fur of the wolf. Just as he breathed in he stopped dead in his tracks, hidden in the shadows of the side street they had been trotting down. Conri shivered; the scent of fresh blood permeated the air. His shadow self raised his nose to the sky, taking deep breathes to gather as much information as possible. Through his wolf counterpart, Conri was able to practically taste the sharp tang of the blood, and whoever the poor souls were that had spilled it. And underneath that scent was the heavy musk of the pack. Several, if not all members were close by.

  
Conri’s shadow self took off again, much more slowly this time. Whether by bad luck or design, their path drew them closer to the kill of the night.

  
As they travel down the road, the city limits nearing their sight, soft sounds began to plague their senses. They could detect the tearing of flesh and muscle, the gnashing of jaws and the growls of possessive wolves claiming their bit of meat. Underneath it all, Conri could swear he heard whimpers and moans, but that couldn’t be true. He prayed to every deity he could think of that it wouldn’t be true.

  
They soon came level to the mouth of an alleyway, the road to freedom mere yards away. His shadow self perked up, intent on moving as fast as he dared out of the city and into the blissful cover of the forest. Before he could do so, however, the sight of what lay within the alley opposite stopped him dead in his tracks.

  
The previous sounds and smells did not do an adequate job in preparing both man and beast for what lay within the shadows. The pack was there in full force, their furred bodies moving constantly as they went from one body to the next to feast upon the more desirable meat. Despite their numbers, though, Conri could clearly see their prey. And to his disgust, they were still alive, although barely at this point. They were too far gone in pain to scream anymore, but he had no doubt that it was them who had done so earlier. Now, they just laid there as the pack ripped apart their limbs and gnawed on their soft bellies, spilling their innards out onto the murky pavement, the steam from their organs wafting into the chilly air. If Conri had been in his human form, he would have been violently sick. Even his shadow self felt nauseous at the sight of the innocents laying there, unable to do anything but endure this hell until death granted them mercy.

  
So enamored by the grotesque sight as they were, by the time they made to leave they had already been spotted.

  
The alpha raised his head, his maw dripping with warm blood. He curled his lips back in a feral grin, growling viciously; a clear cut challenge. The rest of his pack were quick to look around, their own snarls and growls adding to the weight of their alpha’s intimidation.

  
For a moment, both Conri and his shadow self could do nothing but stand there, frozen in place by shock and fear. But as the alpha stepped forward, his silvery grey coat shimmering in the moonlight, his wolf counterpart managed to snap out of his haze. With a defiant growl, he whirled around and ran back the way they had come. There was nothing in his mind but the thought of escape. Behind them, the air was pierced with the sounds of feral howls, signaling one thing and one thing only; the chase was on.

 


	6. Hunted

Hunted

Conri had thought he had felt fear before, when the pack had been in their human forms and they had chased after him. But this, this was something else all together. This was a true hunt, and these predators were stalking him and attempting to box him into a corner. More than once his shadow self had to step in and force them away from a trap, only to almost fall into another one. Only now did Conri appreciate the size of this pack, and their deadly experience with running in their wolf skins.

  
His shadow self snarled at one wolf who got too close, almost nipping at his feet. The other wolf growled back, his hackles raised in anger and a spark of bloodlust in his eyes. It made Conri’s own blood run cold, but his wolf companion’s resolve only hardened and he pushed himself to a faster pace.

  
The sound of the other wolves soon faded as they ran, the buildings around them becoming a blur of shadows and shapes. But that didn't mean they could rest easily. Every time they thought themselves to be safe enough to slow down, even if just for a few short moments, a sinister snarl would echo from within the shadows and they would have to resume their punishing pace again. Every road and every path they went down was pushing them farther away from the center of the city, the wolf pack doing everything they could to trap them where they wouldn't be able to escape again.

  
Suddenly, Conri spotted a cracked opening in an abandoned building to their right. He couldn’t tell what would be inside, or even if there was a way through, but he urged his wolf companion down into the darkness regardless. His shadow self wavered for only a moment before ducking through the tight space.

  
It was pitch black inside; only the dim light from the outside illuminated a few feet. Using their other senses, Conri and his shadow self managed to pick their way through what the young man deemed to be years of accumulated filth and decay. He felt nauseous at the very smell, but his wolf companion forged ahead, searching for a way out of this darkness.

  
Abruptly they came to another crack, smaller than the first but the brick around the hole was crumbling. A few shoves with their shoulder, and suddenly they found themselves outside of the city limits. The shock was enough to stall them for a moment, standing still as the they recovered from their exertion. Conri tried to listen for their pursuers, but he could hear nothing over the sound of his wolf self panting heavily. It worried him, but he didn’t want to push the wolf farther than he could go. Still, they could hardly stand there for much longer, so he impressed this urgency onto the wolf along with an apology. His shadow self merely let out a huge huff and began to run once again, heading doggedly toward the distant forest.

  
They were suddenly slammed from the side by a heavy body, throwing them several feet to the left. The shock radiated through the wolf and Conri, both man and beast momentarily dazed by the attack. They lifted their head, the wolf growling in defiance while Conri swore silently.

  
The wolf that had run into them seemed to be in shock that he had done so; he was standing so stiffly Conri thought a simple breeze would knock him over. He looked around, trying to see if it had been another wolf that had done the damage, but this one seemed to be the only one around. His dark grey fur was dusted with black here and there, especially around his face creating an absurd sort of mask. His wolf companion stood back up and faced the enemy beast, raising his head and pulling back his lips to emit an impressive growl that chilled even Conri.

  
The other wolf seemed to shrink back on himself, almost submitting but at the same time unsure if he should. A soft whine that they could barely hear emitted from the wolf, his ears shifting from side to side. Suddenly a chorus of howls pierced the air, far too close for Conri’s comfort. His shadow self snarled, readying himself for a fight, but Conri would have none of that. He urged his companion to run again, even going as far as to take control briefly and force the wolf away a few steps.

  
They looked back at the other wolf, who was staring after them with a silent pleading in his eyes. Conri couldn't help but wonder about why this particular wolf was being merciful to them, but his shadow self couldn’t care less. He turned abruptly and began running back along the empty landscape toward the forest.

  
Conri kept their ears raised to catch any sound that would indicate the pack was coming after them. He couldn’t detect anything above the rushing of air as they ran flat-out, but that meant nothing.

  
After awhile, he could feel that the wolf’s energy was running low, his panting loud and ragged. Conri lent his own energy to the wolf’s body, and together they managed to run the rest of the way to the forest.

  
It was huge and intimidating. The trees loomed out at them, the darkness inside like a shadow world that humans had no business being in. Conri’s first instinct was to turn and go back to the city, bloodthirsty pack be damned. But his shadow self perked up at the sight of the darkness within the trees and ran eagerly forward, breathing in deeply as they passed the first few lines of trees and fully entered the forest.

  
As they made their way further in the wolf slowed down, taking in deep, steady breaths as they moved. Conri could taste the chill and the tang of the trees, the crispness of the leaves that hung on branches above and littered the ground below. Once he got over his initial fear, he began to relax and allow the peace that his shadow self felt wash over him as well.

  
The sound of rushing water began to make itself known, and the wolf eagerly made his way toward it. The river was quite wide, the water moving along at a swift pace though not nearly as fast as Conri had heard other rivers move. The wolf knelt down by the bank and began to lap up the cold water, savoring the cleanliness of it. After taking several long gulps, the wolf then sat back and simply looked around, enjoying this moment of peace. Conri looked around as well, admiring the serenity of the forest and the beauty of nature, but after a few minutes he became restless. He was worried about his sister, and about the rogue pack that seemed hellbent on attacking him. He wanted to start heading back to the city so that he could watch over his sister as she walked home alone again because he couldn’t be there for her. He’d have to get back to the apartment before her and make sure his door was barricaded so that she couldn’t get in and see him in this state. He would have to come up with an excuse for her tomorrow, but he couldn’t begin to think of what would appease Luna; she wasn’t so ignorant that she wouldn’t notice his peculiar behavior. Then there was the issue of actually getting to his apartment. Another run through the city seemed impossible at the moment, especially with the gang on high alert for them. Conri shuddered as he thought of the half eaten people that had been left to die slowly in the alleyway, their agonized eyes burning into his very soul. He wondered if such a fate awaited him if he was caught. And what would happen to his sister then-

  
His shadow-self interrupted his frantic thoughts with a washing sense of peace. Conri tried to argue, to convince the wolf that he had human obligations, valid concerns, but the sense of peace of was too tempting to resist for long. He allowed himself to relax, his worries being ushered far away to the back of his mind. Then, both man and wolf enjoyed the scenery and the sound of the water as it flowed by them.

  
The air shifted, and their nose detected something different in the area. A musk, but unlike anything Conri or his shadow self had ever encountered. Before they could fully process this new scent, a low hiss emanated from the incline to their left.

  
His shadow self’s reaction was instantaneous; he was already on his feet and in a defensive stance by the time Conri realized what was going on. He cursed everything and anything he could think of; they couldn’t get five minutes of peace without something trying to attack them.

  
And as Conri watched the shadows come into view, it occurred to him that this new threat could be something potentially worse than the wolf pack. And that was saying something.

  
All he knew of mountain lions were that they were solitary predators. Only ever looking out for themselves and cubs, if they had any. But these cats were something else. There were seven of them in all, all staring down the single wolf before them. They were less than half the size of the wolf pack of Aevum city, but their sheer physical build made them seem so much bigger and intimidating. _We are not surviving this night,_ Conri thought hopelessly.

  
His shadow self shot him an inward glare and returned his attention to the wild cats before him. The one at the forefront seemed to be the leader, so the wolf chose to focus on him. He lowered his head, titled his ears back and to the side, and crouched down slightly, making himself smaller and less threatening to the cats. The mountain lion snarled, his large teeth bared in a threat. Slowly, the wolf turned away, making his movements exaggerated so as not to alarm the mountain lions that stared so intently at them.

  
As they turned, they came almost nose to nose with the pale alpha.

  
Startled they leapt back, causing the mountain lions behind them to roar with anger. Conri and his shadow self whipped their head side to side, caught between two enemies. The alpha lunged first, his mouth readying to connect with their neck. They leapt aside, snarling. But before they could do anything else, the mountain lions surged forward, their roars nearly drowning out the growls from the wolf pack.

  
It was as if hell had decided to break through the earth and arrive in this once peaceful forest. Conri and his shadow self dodged claws and fangs, rushing away from the tangle of bodies. A burning along their right shoulder flared, and the wolf whirled around with teeth bared as one of the mountain lions hissed back him. Conri shrank back at the sheer size of the fangs the wild cat had, but his wolf companion stood his ground. Before the lion could do any further damage, they were distracted by another wolf that had rocketed himself toward the great cat. If Conri wasn’t so terrified out of his wits, he would have actually thanked the bloody beast.

  
His shadow self wasted no time in using this distraction to run away, finally breaking free of the riot and running up the hill to their left where the mountain lions had appeared before. The radiating pain in their shoulder caused both Conri and the wolf to wince, but they could not worry about it just yet. As they reached the top of the hill, they spared a glance down at the fight. It was no surprise to Conri that the mountain lions were winning; their sheer size and strength were massive compared to the wolves. The pale alpha then howled; his signal to retreat. Conri was disappointed to find that none of the enemy pack had perished in the brief but violent fight. His shadow self growled and turned away, running as far from the big cats as he could.

  
Daylight was beginning to creep into the sky by the time his shadow self deemed it necessary to settle down and rest. They had come to a clearing, laying down next to a massive boulder that provided some cover and protection. Exhausted, the wolf finally relaxed, licking his wound tenderly. Conri was grateful that the cut was not deep, but it was long and painful. He was not looking forward to enduring it in his human state, knowing full well it would look and feel a hell of a lot worse.

  
After cleaning the cut, his wolf companion gave a huge yawn and laid his head down on his paws. By now he would have relented to Conri and given back majority control to the young man, but instead he held on to the wolf skin. Conri wasn’t going to complain, for once. He found that injuries were better endured in his wolf form than in his human flesh. He spared a final thought to his sister, hoping that she was okay and that he could smooth things over with her when they got back to the city. It was a small hope, but he clung onto it as he followed the wolf into the darkness of sleep.


	7. Excuses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update is (especially) late due to the fact that my second laptop has come back from the dead and, while I would rather be using that one primarily, I'm having some difficulty transferring my stories from one computer to the other. Incompatible software or something I don't fucking know, I ain't tech savvy. Point is, it's gonna take awhile to get all my work onto that laptop SO I will be updating on here via my current computer.
> 
> Also, this is where my knowledge of laws and such start coming into question, though I have tried my best to make it as realistic as possible. However, allow me to say this; in this story the city is run by corrupt persons who pretty much control everything and everyone and there are times when the law as it would be in a normal city does not follow normal structures. Is that bullshit? Maybe. But hey, it's just a made up story so in the end, it's not a huge deal.
> 
> (I still tried my best though)

Excuses

Both man and wolf were loathe to wake up several hours later, their shared body exhausted beyond belief. But it was Conri who insisted that they needed to get moving; they couldn’t stay in this forest forever. His shadow self growled at that thought but he rose up nonetheless, stretching languidly. He gave the cut on his shoulder one last lick before trotting away toward Aevum City.

  
Conri could feel dread weighing heavily in the pit of his stomach. Dreading to come across the mountain lion pack again, dreading to come across the wolf pack once they got back into the city, and dreading to face his sister after being gone for most of the night and half the day. He wanted to pinch the skin between his eyes out of sheer irritation.

  
His shadow self on the other hand felt completely at ease. His gait was steady, carrying them easily over the uneven terrain at a brisk pace without tiring out. He kept his senses sharp, but otherwise the wolf enjoyed every moment that passed as they moved through the forest. In spite of his mood, Conri had to admit it was a beautiful place, more so in the daytime than at night. The birds chirped pleasantly from their perches in the trees. Animals skittered along the ground, hidden from view but not from their ears or nose. The sun filtered down through the leaves, creating shadow patterns along the ground. The contrast was very pleasing.

  
Despite the brisk pace, it took them nearly an hour to leave the forest and come out into the open. By this time, Conri was practically vibrating with worry. He used the wolf’s eyesight, hearing, and nose to look for any signs of danger. He didn’t think the gang would be stupid enough to be wolves during the day, unlike himself, but he didn’t want to take that risk.

  
By the time they reached the city outskirts, Conri demanded his wolf companion give control over to him and change into their human skin. The wolf growled, displeased, but relented and faded back into the shadow of Conri’s spirit, allowing the young man majority control once again. Conri stretched his arms, ignoring the painful twinge in the wound on his shoulder. He was just grateful to be back in a familiar skin. He was less than pleased to find himself stark naked, however. He should have remembered this would happen, but the events of last night had thrown that particular worry far into the back of his mind. He could feel his shadow self radiating with amusement at his predicament.

  
Conri let out a huff and began to stride toward the city. His years of lurking down the streets, stalking people to steal money from, had given him an intimate knowledge of the patterns of their daily routines, which happened to include which apartments used outside lines to hang their laundry. One such as himself could not always afford new clothes, especially at the rate he went through them. So it was good to know where such articles would be hanging out in the open for him to take as he pleased.

  
He scanned the surrounding area, making sure they were alone before he darted around to the road he and his wolf companion had been sneaking down when the pack had stopped them. Conri made his way along the pavement as quickly as he could before ducking down a side street to avoid whatever mess was left in the alleyway a short distance away. He made sure to also avoid all the major foot traffic areas, keeping his ears perked for any stray sounds.

  
Soon enough, he spotted a clothesline stretching from one apartment building to another. After checking to make sure he had not been followed, Conri climbed up the fire escape of one building to check out the clothes he could take. Thankfully, there seemed to be man about his size living in one of the apartments, if a size or two bigger. Conri could hardly complain; as long as he had something to wear back to his own apartment, he’d be set. He quickly grabbed a pair of jeans and a button up shirt, ducking down out of sight to get changed. After throwing the clothes on haphazardly, he scrambled back down the fire escape and began the long walk to his neighborhood.

  
By the time his building finally came into view, the sun was already past midday. Conri heaved a sigh, straightening his back as he approached the apartment complex, only to freeze at the sight of several police cars parked on the street in front of his building. Panic seized his heart, and he ran the rest of the way down the street, wrenching the door open.

  
Inside there was a flurry of commotion. He saw his landlord off to the side talking with a couple of police officers. Several of the other tenants were either talking with other cops or else gawking at the activity. Conri found himself rooted to the spot, alarm bells ringing in his head. His shadow self was also tensed in apprehension, his lip curled back to show his fangs.

  
One officer soon spotted him and beckoned him forward. With trepidation, Conri approached the uniformed man. Once he was within arms length, the man held up a hand to stop his approach and addressed a small square of paper in front of him. Conri had a sneaking suspicion that it was a photograph.

  
“Conri Kinsley?” The officer asked him. Conri swallowed and gave a curt nod. The man took in his appearance, noting with a frown the disheveled state of his stolen clothes and his bare feet slick with dirt and grime. “You’re going to need to come with us down to the station, Mr. Kinsley.”

  
Conri felt his heart tighten in fear. “Why?” he asked, hoping he didn’t sound too suspicious.

  
“We just have a few questions for you,” the officer replied, waving to one of his fellow policemen and gesturing to himself and Conri. The other man gave a curt nod and began to round up the other officers, preparing to leave the apartment complex.

  
“Alright…” Conri managed to say. “What about my sister?”

  
“She’ll be joining us shortly at the precinct, once word gets to her that you’re alive and well,” the officer said casually, beckoning Conri to follow him out of the building. He could feel the eyes of the other tenants boring into the back of skull; it was humiliating.

  
Though not as humiliating as being ushered into the back of one of the police cars. At least he didn’t have handcuffs clapped on him, but it was only a small blessing.

  
As he sat in the back of the car, Conri’s thoughts turned to his sister. Was she the one who called the police? Very likely. Disappearances happened more often than anyone would care to admit, but usually the police would wait forty-eight hours before investigating a missing persons report. So, why did the police answer her call so quickly when he had only been gone for less than twenty-four hours?

  
To this, his inner wolf gave a half growl half whine, impressing the urge for caution upon the man’s mind. Conri gave a short acknowledgment to his shadow-self; he knew he would have to play this game carefully if he had any hope of going back to his sister.

  
They arrived at the police station within fifteen minutes. The officer held the door open for Conri as he stepped out of the car. Then, he led him to the doors of the station. Inside was buzzing with activity, officers and arrested persons alike making all manner of noises. Conri felt his throat tighten at some of the glares from those who wore their handcuffs with entirely too much ease. He was steered toward a hallway lined with several doors on each side. After passing the first few, the officer ushered Conri into one room and closed the door behind them.

  
Conri felt his caution spike as he saw they were in an interrogation room. He forced himself to remain outwardly calm, however, reminding himself that he has done nothing illegal, really. _No, I just changed into a wild wolf and was hunted by the resident pack for most of the night before being attacked by some freak pack of mountain lions_ , Conri muttered inwardly. His shadow self peered out at the officer, who had his back to them for the moment, shuffling through the papers laying on the table. He sniffed the air, and gave a short growl; this was not a kind man. Conri felt confused at the wolf’s assessment, but before he could question the beast the officer turned around and settled down into one of the chairs at the table. He gestured for Conri to sit in the remaining one, and he did so with care as if the chair was liable to break upon contact.

  
The officer said nothing. He merely stared at Conri as if he was a very interesting art exhibit. Conri wanted to shift, to squirm under his pointed stare but his shadow self stilled his movements. The wolf impressed the image of two wolves staring one another down, their eyes locked and unwavering. Along with the image he let Conri feel the sense of pride that was at stake during such confrontations. He sighed inwardly and rose his face to lock onto the officer’s, and that was how they stayed for several long minutes.

  
Just when Conri was beginning to feel the urge to crack and say something to end this ridiculous stand-off, the officer shifted and looked down at the papers he had laid before him. His shadow self practically overflowed with smugness, so much so that Conri couldn’t help the thin smirk that appear on his face. When the man looked up again, Conri had cleared his expression and put on his polite mask of indifference.

  
“So, Mr. Kinsley,” the officer began, “do you make it a habit to go for long nighttime strolls?”

  
“Not usually,” Conri replied evenly.

  
“A dangerous pastime, especially in this city,” the officer continued. “Only the truly desperate would attempt to wander the streets after dark. Well, them and the…predators that would attack them.”

  
“Yes, I’ve heard the stories,” Conri remarked stiffly, barely containing the biting tone of anger that welled up inside him.

  
The officer gave a small smile at that and glanced down at the papers on the table once again, shifting them around until he drew one up from the pile.

  
“We got a report this morning from a witness who saw a naked young man, covered in blood and dirt, sneaking up an apartment building and stealing a pair of blue jeans and a grey button up work shirt. There have also been several reports from people who had woken up in the middle of the night to the sounds people screaming. And it just so happens that this morning we found the remains of five individuals not too far from where the theft took place,” the officer paused and glanced over Conri again, taking note of his appearance. “Care to explain that?”

  
Conri narrowed his eyes, wondering if he was hearing the insinuations correctly or if he was just paranoid. But as the older man waited for his answer, he was forced to conclude that he was, as they say, a person of interest. Which led Conri to wonder just what interest they had, since in the past the police had never put much effort into the cases that involved dismembered bodies and half eaten limbs. It was all so painfully obvious who was to blame, but that didn’t change anything. The fear of being the next to be at the mercy of the pack made everyone turn a blind eye. Conri sighed inwardly, knowing he’d have to tread carefully.

  
“I did steal the clothes, as you can obviously tell. I needed to, I had little other choice. I had every intention of bringing them back once I had gotten home in one piece.” That last part wasn’t necessarily true; changing into a wolf involuntarily every month was limiting his choice of clothes to wear.

  
“And what exactly were you doing wandering the streets at the crack of dawn stark naked and covered in blood?” the officer asked.

  
Conri resisted the urge to scowl. He wasn’t covered in blood, for one thing. The gash on his shoulder stung, yes, but it hadn’t bled heavily. And he had been nowhere near those poor souls when they were torn apart. The very insinuation made his blood boil, but he forced the feeling aside, knowing that getting angry would solve nothing.

  
“I was heading home when I stumbled upon the resident gang‘s…feast,” Conri explained with a grimace. “Once I saw what was going on I tried to make a run for it, but that only made them chase after me. During the chase one of those hell beasts slashed my shoulder, ruining my shirt. So I tried to evade them by running through the alleyway system, and after a while I managed to shake them off. However, by then my remaining clothes were ruined beyond repair, so I did the only thing I felt was necessary; I disposed of my old clothes and borrowed some fresh ones. Like I said, I had every intention of returning them at a later point.”

  
The police officer was making notes in a pad of paper beside him as Conri spoke. His face betrayed nothing of what he was feeling or thinking, so Conri could not be sure if he bought his story or not. By the time he looked up, he could feel his stomach stir with annoyance; the look on the man’s face was one of amused disbelief.

  
“A human outrunning a demonic wolf pack. An impressive feat,” the officer said indulgently.

  
“It’s not as difficult as people might think,” Conri replied evenly.

  
The officer chuckled and looked back down at his papers. Conri’s shadow self whined at him, his animal eyes trying to communicate something. But Conri was at a loss, as he was most of the time. He nudged the animal aside as the officer looked back up.

  
“Well, if that’s how you want to play it son, by all means. We’ll let you go with a strike for stealing another person’s property. But don’t get too complacent. I’ll have some donated clothes sent to you so we can return the items you stole. Stay here, I’ll be back.”

  
With that the older man stood up and left the room, leaving Conri alone with nothing more than a camera in the corner of the small area and his shadow self pacing within.

  
Conri heaved a sigh and ran his hands over his face, glad that he would be able to leave but angry that the officer thought he was somehow involved with the gang. He might have the inner wolf, but he was not nearly so violent as they were.

  
His shadow self nudged him insistently, trying to claim his attention. Conri looked inward at the wolf, wondering what had gotten his companion so worked up. The animal shifted, restless, as he tried to communicate what he wanted. But for once, he seemed unable to impress any images upon the man’s mind. Instead, Conri was bombarded over and over with the feeling of caution and wariness. There was a panicked edge to the wolf’s feelings, and it was contagious. Conri didn’t even know what was wrong, all he knew was that if his inner wolf was on edge, he should be, too.

  
After about fifteen minutes, the officer reappeared in the room with a fresh change of donated clothes. He left again, giving Conri the illusion of privacy to get changed, but he was hyper aware of the camera in the corner of the room. So he angled his body enough to cover his modesty, as well as the long gash on his shoulder; the last thing he needed was the police pouring over the security tapes to get an idea of what kind of injury he had, and if it had really come from the rogue pack. The donated clothes were also baggy, but they were comfortable enough, and Conri was grateful just to be able to have clothes.

  
Once he was changed, the police officer escorted him back in the main lobby where Conri was given the official strike on his personal record for stealing clothes. It didn’t bother him in the least; he had, after all, done far worse theft in his life. He was only annoyed that he had been caught this time.

  
With that done, the officer indicated that his sister would be in the waiting room across the hall. He left with a warning not to get into anymore trouble. Conri suppressed the urge to roll his eyes as he made his way to the waiting area.

  
Before he managed to get to the doors, his shadow self uttered a vicious growl that nearly emitted itself from his throat. Conri clamped down on the urge, but turned to where his wolf’s attention was. He felt his blood run cold at the sight of the tall, lanky man leaning against the wall, watching him with predator eyes. He raised an eyebrow in challenge, and Conri felt his pride shudder against his better judgment. After a moment of hesitation, he approached the man.

  
“So, this is the little pup that has evaded my pack for the last two decades, hmm? Impressive” the man remarked once Conri was within hearing distance. He grimaced, stopping several feet away from the imposing man. Had he closed the distance, he would have been unnerved to find the alpha would have been a head taller than he was.

  
“I think you mean for the last two days,” Conri corrected insolently, causing the man to chuckle emptily.

  
“Oh no, my dear boy. Do you really think I would let some rogue wolf-child run around my city without finding out something about him? No, I know quite a bit about you now. For example, I know your dear little sister Luna is waiting for you, anxious and infuriated at the same time. I always felt it was a shame females could never turn into wolves. They would make worthy playmates, don’t you think so?”

  
Conri could feel the hackles of his inner wolf rise up at the mention of his sister, his own anger thrumming in his blood. He swallowed the urge to threaten the man, his caution barely outweighing his temper.

  
“Are you done?” Conri asked as casually as he could.

  
“Oh, not by a long shot, Conri,” the alpha grinned, his fangs prominent even in his human form. “But I won’t destroy your illusion of security just yet. I’ve actually come with a proposal for you.”

  
“Why would I want anything to do with you, or your sick pack?” Conri retorted, his temper flaring. “All you guys have been trying to do is kill me.”

  
“Because anyone who values their life always does what I ask them to,” the man stated, his eyes flashing dangerously. “To go against me would be…an unpleasant experience. Besides, you‘ve got spunk. I can respect that, believe it or not.”

  
Conri glared at this cocky, self-assured man who grinned at him like he was having the best time of his life. His shadow self urged caution once again, and he reluctantly forced himself to calm down. It couldn’t hurt just to hear the man out, even if it would not be something he would want to be a part of.

  
“Fine, what do you want?” he asked stiffly.

  
“I would like you to join my pack,” the alpha said, shoving himself away from the wall and taking a few steps toward Conri. “I’ll give you a month to think it over. Believe me, you are squandering your talents by being a petty thief. And I abhor anyone who doesn’t cherish their talents. Being a part of my pack would grant you power, and protection for you and your lovely sister. Think about it.”

  
“And what happens if I refuse?”

  
The man laughed, running a careless hand through his dark blonde hair. “Like I said, anyone who values their life would do well to obey me. I cannot have you running amok through my city. So if you are not going to join me, then you are against me. And I destroy anything that is against me.”

  
Before Conri could react, the man took his hand and shook it. He struggled not to visibly recoil from the strength behind the grip. But he could tell the man knew, judging from his toothy grin.

  
“The name is Lycus, and you would do well to remember that. You have until the next full moon to come to a decision.”

  
Lycus released his hand and left Conri standing in the hall dumbstruck. The young man hastily wiped his hand against his shirt, grimacing at the predicament he now found himself in. Shaking his head, he chose to focus on reuniting with his sister and getting them home.

  
He entered the waiting area and within seconds a small body rocketed into him, nearly knocking Conri onto his back.

  
“Jesus, Luna!” Conri gasped, prying his sister away. Before he could get her at arms length, she delivered a hard slap to his face. “What the hell was that for?!” he demanded incredulously.

  
“Don’t play stupid, Conri, you know _damn_ well what that was for!” Luna hissed at him “How dare you leave in the middle of the night and almost get yourself killed! I mean, what the hell were you even thinking?!”

  
“Luna, can we talk about this when we get home?” Conri asked, rubbing his stinging cheek as he glared at the gawking people within the room.

  
His sister let out an angry noise and stalked past him. Conri heaved a sigh and followed in her wake. He knew she would let him have an earful once they got home, but at least they would have some privacy. Their neighbors were used to their arguments by now, so it wouldn’t be as awkward as having a fight in front of gawking strangers.

  
They soon reached the doors that led out of the police station. As he was stepping through, he felt the need to look around behind him. There, in the back of the main lobby, he saw Lycus talking with the police officer who had brought him in for interrogation. He felt fury race through his blood as Lycus handed the man a cash wad, which the officer discretely pocketed. They shook hands and the other man left. Lycus turned his head, looking over at Conri as if he knew he had been there the whole time. He gave a slow grin and winked, leaving the area as well.

  
Now he knew what his shadow self was trying to warn him about.

 


	8. Requests

Requests

 

He had been right to wait until they got home before they launched into their argument. It was certainly one of the loudest confrontations Conri could remember them having. Luna was furious with him for not being there, yet again, to walk her home after work. She was furious with him for not even being in the apartment when she got home. She was furious with him for being gone so long that she cracked and called the police in a panic, even though the chances of them being able to do anything so soon was slim to none.

 

As his sister ranted on, venting her frustration and horror at his actions, Conri found his mind straying back to the alpha's offer. His shadow self growled low in his throat; he hated the alpha. Anything that man had to say was not to be trusted, that much the wolf was certain of. _I know what you mean,_ Conri mused to the animal. He didn't want to join that bloodthirsty pack. To do so would be a betrayal to his sister, and to the people of the city. Whether they knew it or not, he did have a conscious.

 

" _Conri_!"

 

Conri snapped his eyes back into focus, taking in the sight of his sister swollen with renewed raged. He swallowed a grimace as he replied, "What, Luna?"

 

"You're not fucking listening to me, that's what!"  she yelled. "Don't you even care about how I feel?!"

 

"Of course I do! But I've already said that I was sorry, I've already explained what happened; what more do you want from me?!"

 

"I want you to be more responsible! Goddamn it, Conri, you're the only family I have left, does that not mean anything to you?!"

 

Conri ran a tired hand over his face, trying to find some way to reconcile with his sister. By the time he looked up again, Luna was stalking away toward her room, slamming the door with enough force to rock the whole apartment.

 

_Maybe living out our lives in the forest wasn't a bad idea after all,_ Conri remarked to his inner wolf. The beast gazed at him, something akin to sympathy in his animal eyes. He shook his head and made his way over to the kitchenette, intent on making a hearty sandwich. He noted with a stab of guilt that someone had restocked their supply of food; probably the Garcias down the hall. Of course, he had always told Luna since they had befriended the family to go to them should anything happen to him.

 

As he chewed morosely on his food, Conri's mind turned to what he had witnessed upon leaving the police station. Dirty cops were nothing new. It had been an open secret for the whole city for several years that there were a few trustworthy officers that would help out the pack whenever they needed it. More often than not, though, all that was needed was for them to ignore the obvious messes they left behind after their...hunts . However, it was widely believed that none of the police officers _wanted_ to help them, but like everyone else they were simply too terrified to say no. However, the police officer that had brought Conri in actually seemed to enjoy what he was charged to do. And whatever that was, he knew it could not bode well for him in the future.

 

After finishing his sandwich, Conri pushed aside the grim thoughts of the corrupt officer to the back of his mind and decided to pay his neighbors a visit. At the very least he should thank them for their help in his absence. He wandered down the hall and knocked on their door, only having to wait for a few moments before Mrs. Garcia opened the door. She smiled brightly, the look of relief plain on her face.

 

"It's good to see you, my dear,"  she greeted him pleasantly.

 

"It's good to see you too, Mrs. Garcia,"  Conri replied. Before he could say anything else, he heard her husband talking.

 

"Is that Conri I hear?"  Mr. Garcia called out.

 

"Yes it is, Marco,"  she called back.

 

"Invite him in, I want to talk with him before he leaves."

 

Mrs. Garcia gave Conri a sympathetic look before stepping aside, allowing the young man inside their apartment. He had been privy to their living space before, on the occasions when they needed a sitter for Emilio. It was as shabby as everything else in the building, but they had managed to make it look cozy and warm. Just like a home should be.

 

"Anything I should know before I talk to your husband?"  Conri asked. It was, truth be told, the first time the kindly man had ever requested to speak to Conri alone. He felt strangely guilty, a feeling he imagined would have been a daily occurrence had he had a father growing up.

 

"Just that he cares very deeply for you and Luna, and he worries for you both. We all do,"  Mrs. Garcia said with a pat to his cheek. "Now go on, he's in the back room."

 

Conri gave a short nod and made his way to the other side of the apartment. The Garcias were fortunate in having one of the few apartments in the building that came with an extra room. Mr. Garcia used this area as an office space of sorts, meticulously keeping track of their expenses and making the small amount of money they earned stretch for weeks. It was a talent to admire.

 

The door was open, Mr. Garcia's back facing the opening as he poured over various papers. Conri gave a few knocks against the door, announcing his presence. Mr. Garcia turned to him, a benign smile gracing his features. He gestured for Conri to enter and sit down on the spare chair that occupied the small space. Once he was seated, the older man turned to face him fully with a look that Conri had often seen directed at Emilio. It was an expression of patient disappointment.

 

"We were all worried about you, Conri,"  Mr. Garcia said. "I would ask what happened, but I got the gist of it from your, ah, discussion with your sister."

 

"Yeah...sorry about that,"  Conri mumbled in embarrassment, knowing that everyone within a hundred feet of them would have heard everything they said. One of the many reasons why he hated this place.

 

Mr. Garcia shook his head, smiling. "Don't be sorry, Conri. Siblings fight, it's what they do. I can't even count the amount of times I got into it with my brothers. But yours is a unique position. You're not just her older brother, you're her only family. You two need each other, especially in this day and age. And especially with those pendejos running around."

 

Conri nodded, knowing full well the weight of his responsibilities. Add to that the fact that he was forced to become a wolf every full moon along with the pack now breathing down his neck, and he had a pretty full plate at the moment.

 

"Now, that isn't the only reason I wanted to talk to you. There's an opening in the mail room at the office building where I work. It doesn't require anything in the way of prior experience, and it's really basic work. But it's good and honest work, and I'd like to put in a recommendation for you to fill that position."

 

"...Oh,"  Conri said, unable to think of anything else to say. He was deeply appreciative of the man's offer, but at the same time he was leery to accept. Being a pickpocket was not an ideal job per se, but it was flexible, and it allowed him adequate freedom. And now, he could use that position to keep an eye out for the whereabouts of the gang as he tried to think of a way to escape this mess.

 

"Listen, Conri,"  Mr. Garcia leaned forward, his concerned gaze pinning the younger man in his seat. "We have always appreciated the money you bring us. It helps us out a great deal, as you know. And we have never questioned how you managed to get it, but you are still a young man. If you want to be around for your sister, then you have to make the right choices. Not just for you, but for her. Please, let me know by the end of this week what you decide. I won't force your hand; it's entirely up to you. I only urge you to consider the benefits of a proper job."

 

Mr. Garcia clapped a hand upon Conri's shoulder, his kind smile a fixture as they stood up from their chairs. Conri returned the smile, with some reluctance, and together they walked back out to the main room of the apartment. They spent a few more minutes chatting idly, where Conri thanked the Garcia s for bringing them extra food, to which Mr. and Mrs. Garcia waved away his thank you with a simple "it was the least we could do."

 

Conri was on his way out when he turned back to Mr. Garcia, gesturing for the older man to join him out in the hall.

 

"I wanted to ask you a favor, if it's alright with you. I mean, I know you and your family do so much for us already-"

 

"Conri, please, it is our pleasure. What can we do for you?"  Mr. Garcia overrode him kindly.

 

"Should anything happen to me...I just want to make sure Luna has somewhere to go, and that she's with people she can trust and depend on,"  Conri said, knowing that this request would raise many questions in the man's mind. However, he hoped that this one time he would refrain from asking too much.

 

Mr. Garcia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Conri winced inwardly, steeling himself for the inevitable. "Conri, is everything okay?"  the older man asked worriedly.

 

"I...I just want to make sure Luna is, you know, well taken care of. This whole...thing with that gang, I mean, you know how they are. I just wanted to be sure...you know in case they decide to...come back again."  Conri managed to stumble out some sort of explanation that was relatively close to the truth. _If he only knew the whole story,_ Conri mused bitterly.

 

"Of course, we will always welcome Luna into our family with open arms. But I would not worry so much about them, Conri. Just keep your nose clean and don't go wandering around at night. Sooner or later, we all have a run-in with those bastards, and if we can get out of it with our skins attached then we should consider ourselves lucky. Okay?"

 

Conri nodded, smiling as if he felt reassured. He waved goodbye to Mr. Garcia and went up the hall to his own apartment. Once inside, he allowed the smile to drop off his face, his worries only partially subsided.

 

_Well, at least Luna is taken care of,_ Conri thought to himself. His shadow self tilted his head, gazing at the human with those fathomless eyes. Conri didn't want to have a one-sided conversation with his inner wolf at the moment, so he nudged the animal aside and shuffled down the short hall to his room. As usual he paused by his sister's door, listening to make sure she was alright. He heard the soft sounds of her music, but he wasn't satisfied with that evidence alone. His shadow self rose to the surface just enough to confirm her scent was within the room, so Conri nodded and continued to his own room, appeased.

 

Conri curled up on his bed, turning his head toward the window to watch as the sky turned from day into night. The moon was already peaking above the horizon, appearing to be full but both he and the wolf knew it was on its way to darkness. The young man shuddered as he thought about the inevitable confrontation on the next full moon. His shadow self growled low in his chest at that, adamant about never succumbing to the alpha s orders.

 

_Haven't you ever been part of a pack?_ Conri asked, half exasperated and half amused by his companions attitude. The wolf stared at the man, impressing the image of a gangly, half-grown wolf upon Conri's mind. The lively creature, whose brown and black fur Conri was intimately familiar with, was playing around with other half-grown wolves, their fur colors ranging from slate grey to dark brown. Around them were the adults of the pack, watching their pups but knowing that at this age they could be trusted to have some leeway.

 

Conri chuckled as the image dissolved, feeling the sense of peace that his wolf felt at the memory. _Do you ever miss it?_ He asked his shadow self impulsively. His companion was silent, gazing off to the side as if lost in thought. The wolf let out a huff and gave a single feeling to the young man; longing. Conri returned with a feeling of sympathy; he knew what it was like to be alone in the world. At least he had his sister. His wolf was stuck with him.

 

The creature let out a low whine before rumbling low in his chest, purring them both toward sleep. Conri yawned, settling into a more comfortable position on his bed as he allowed himself to be drawn into sleep. His last thought was to wonder how he would be able to survive the next few weeks.


	9. Sheep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy first day of spring! I guess. I mean, I love the change of seasons but at the same time I loathe that the weather is getting warmer.
> 
> Can't have everything, right?

Sheep

_He shivered in his hiding place, clutching his baby sister in his arms as she slumbered on peacefully, oblivious to what has happening mere yards away. His eyes were wide and staring, the shadows in the street beyond the bushes a tangled web of confusion. But try as he might, he could not see her among the larger bodies. He could not see his mother._

  
_He wanted her with them. Needed her with them. Why hadn’t she hidden in the bushes? Why had she shoved them away and stayed in the open by herself? They could have all been safe, together._

  
_“…Momma,” he whispered, his small voice barely a hiss of breath and unheard by the commotion going on in front of him. “…Momma…” His throat closed up, and he chocked back a sob, cradling his sister in his arms. He was so confused. He felt like he should do something, but he couldn’t understand what he should do._

  
_Above the screams and laughter a single voice rose, emitting a menacing growl that made the young boy shiver and scoot further back into the bushes._

  
_“Playtime is over, brothers! Now is the time to feast,” the voice commanded, a hint of glee within the dark tone. There was a brief pause, and then a horrible squelching reached the boy’s ears, his eyes screwing shut against this new terror. Her voice rose up a pitch, wailing for something he couldn’t begin to understand-_

  
Conri snapped awake, his eyes wide and staring and his breath coming in heaving gasps. For several minutes all he could do was lay there, still as statue, unable or unwilling to do anything else. His shadow self remained silent, observing the man steadily.

  
Eventually he let out a slow breath and sank back against the mattress, his clothes slick with sweat. Gingerly, Conri reached over and shoved his window open higher, welcoming the chilly air that sent shivers wracking through his body. The night still had a few hours to go before it gave way to daybreak. It didn’t matter, though; sleep would not come again.

\- - -

The next morning, Luna was giving her brother the cold shoulder. Conri let it go, knowing that, to some extent at least, he did deserve the treatment. They moved around each other as if the other didn’t even exist, eating their breakfast in silence then retiring to different rooms in the apartment; Luna back to her bedroom and Conri on the couch in the living room. The whole affair made Conri’s inner wolf whine at the tension, nudging the man to make amends.

  
_She needs her space. This is how humans work through their issues, it’ll be fine_ , Conri assured the animal, while also impressing the point that it was hardly the first time Luna had done such things. He thought the beast would have become used to her behavior by now.

  
After flicking through random channels for half an hour on their cheap television set, courtesy of their oh-so-generous landlord, Conri decided it was high time to get out and earn some money. Although his droopy eyes would much rather get back to sleep, but he shuddered at the very thought, the images from his dream last night still far too fresh in his memory. So he stood up, stretching languidly before wandering through the apartment in search of his key. After several minutes of digging through piles of junk and clothes that were scattered all over the apartment, grumbling under his breath, he finally found them partially hidden beneath his nightstand in his bedroom. Conri shook his head, making a mental note to acquire some gaudy key ring that was easy to spot. Once he had pocketed the key he stopped by his sister’s room, knocking on the door.

  
“Luna, I’m going out. I’ll be back in a little while,” Conri called out to her through the door, not waiting for a response as he turned and headed toward the front door. He was on his way out when he heard swift footsteps coming closer, and he turned to see his sister glaring at him, her chestnut hair thrown into a haphazard ponytail.

  
“I’m going with you,” she declared, grabbing her jacket and making to push by Conri. He threw an arm against the door frame, blocking her way out as he stared down at his sister in disbelief.

  
“Very funny Luna. Stay here, I’ll be back later.” Conri nudged his sister back into the apartment, earning himself a furious glare.

  
“No, Conri! I will not stay here while you wander the streets again. What if that gang comes back?”

  
“And if they do come back, what are _you_ going to do about it?” Conri asked with an eyebrow raised. “I doubt they’ll be afraid of someone like you.”

  
“Then you clearly don’t know me,” Luna hissed, crossing her arms. Conri resisted the urge to laugh, knowing she was trying to be fierce but all she managed to do was look like a pouting child. He knew she could be a force to reckon with, but at the same time she had never had to deal with the likes of that pack. And he would prefer to keep it that way.

  
“Luna, please, you just have to trust me on this. Besides, you’d make a lousy pickpocket. You don’t have the stealth for it.” Conri dragged his sister back into the apartment and sat her down on the couch. “Watch TV. I’ll be back in an hour. I swear.”

  
Luna heaved a sigh and fixed her brother with a hard stare, her blue eyes flashing dangerously. “Fine. But if you’re not back in exactly one hour, I will leave this apartment and hunt you down.”

  
“Deal,” Conri said, holding his hand out. They shook on their agreement, and Conri finally left the apartment without his little sister in tow.

  
Stepping outside, he shivered in the chilly air; winter was coming closer by the day, at which time being a pickpocket would prove much harder. Usually around this time of year he would start stealing from more people in a day, hoarding the extra cash aside so that they could appease their landlord for the winter. But with the raise in rent, that could prove to be a difficult task to accomplish.

  
Conri shook his head and headed down the street purposefully. He would stick to his plan; it had served him well in the past.

  
He arrived at downtown within twenty minutes. He would have to make a fast swipe today; his sister always kept her promises, and he did not want her wandering through the city looking for him. His shadow self rose up to help, sniffing out the weaker targets. Their eyes fell on an older man, his suit crisp and his toupee horrible. With a feral grin, Conri fell into step behind the man, making sure to blend in with the other people walking around. He eyed his target’s attire, searching for the telltale bump of his wallet. He spotted it in snugly tucked away in the man’s back pocket, the best place for a wallet in Conri’s opinion.

  
They soon came to a crosswalk, the mass of people waiting for the light to turn and allow them to cross the street. Conri grinned, easing his way through the crowd to place himself right behind the older man. He was nearly in position when his shadow self let out a fierce a warning growl. Before Conri could react, a hand latched itself onto his shoulder, iron strength holding him in place.

  
He tried to look back at the asshole who had stopped him from his task, but he was already being manhandled away and down the street. As they went, he felt his inner wolf snarl in defiance. It didn’t take long for Conri to figure out why; everyone they passed would go out of their way to make a space in the crowded street, all of their eyes cast down and their fear spilling off their skins like a toxic stink. Conri resisted the urge to claw the eyes out of his captor, knowing it would be suicidal. The rest of the pack couldn’t be too far away with a single member escorting Conri along, easing their way out of the crowds and down more decrepit and empty streets.

  
Underneath his anger, he felt confusion and panic. He had until the next full moon, the alpha had said so. Of course, Conri knew he shouldn’t hold much weight to man’s word, but even so he had thought it to be a genuine offer, an act of so-called benevolence on the part of the alpha when he could have just easily torn Conri apart right then and there. Besides, if he had learned one thing about this pack in all the years of hearing their stories, it was that they enjoyed playing with their victims. He growled low in his throat unconsciously, his anger winning out over caution and as a result he earned a heavy smack to the back of his head.

  
After several minutes, they came to a shadowed street devoid of any people. Conri felt himself and his inner wolf tense, both readying for whatever would come their way. After walking halfway down the road, he was pulled to a stop and pushed roughly to the ground. Conri winced, sitting up as his captor walked around him. The man glanced back, a smirk on his face as his blind eye stared blankly at Conri. He growled at Varg who merely sneered and continued walking away. After a few moments a delighted chuckle reached his ears, making the young man still at the sound.

  
“Conri! So nice of you to visit us.” Lycus stepped away from the shadow of one rundown building, approaching Conri with a cold grin plastered on his face.

  
“Like I had any choice in the matter,” Conri muttered under his breath.

  
“Careful now. We wouldn’t want your offer to expire so soon, would we?” Lycus chuckled again and stopped short of where Conri still knelt. He loathed having to crane his head back to look at the arrogant alpha, and from the silent growls his shadow self was emitting the beast hated it as well.

  
“Was there something you needed from me?” Conri asked with tense politeness.

  
“Oh no, pup. I merely wished to bestow some free advice upon you. After all, you’re still young, still have so much to learn. And, since you have been lacking in a proper parental figure all this time…well, call me sentimental but I just wish to help you find a better track in life.”

  
By now the rest of the pack had emerged from the shadows, their grins haughty and feral. At his words several of the members let out harsh laughs, enjoying the scene between their alpha and this scrawny pup.

  
Conri bit back the insulting retorts he wished to throw at them all, instead asking, “What advice would that be?”

  
At this Lycus leaned down and hauled Conri to his feet. His shadow self bared his teeth at the contact, and the young man made haste to extract himself from the alpha’s grip. Lycus allowed it, only to throw an arm around Conri’s shoulders as if they were lifelong friends.

  
“You see, I believe I told you how I loathe anyone who doesn’t live up to their potential, yes?” Conri opened his mouth to reply, but Lycus merely continued with his speech. “Well, watching how you sneak among the sheep of this city, picking their pockets and running off without them being any the wiser…it just chafes me in the most uncomfortable way.”

  
“I…I’m not sure I understand,” Conri mumbled uncertainly. His inner wolf was pacing now, practically vibrating with anger.

  
“Our rightful place is above the flock, strutting through the herd as we please and the sheep, well, their place is to bow out of our way and do as we tell them to. That is the nature of herd animals. They are there for our amusement, our sustenance. Sneaking around among them, one would think you’d want to become part of the flock.”

  
“Even sheep can be dangerous,” Conri remarked coldly. His shadow self huffed in agreement. Lycus merely grinned, his teeth unnervingly sharp against his lips.

  
“Clearly you are going about this all wrong. Take my advice, Conri; do not hide what you really are. Let these sheep know that another wolf runs among them.” Lycus moved away from Conri, allowing the young man a reprieve from his overwhelming stench of old blood and decay. “The offer still stands, as does the deadline. But if I or any of my pack finds you sneaking around among those single minded animals, I will hunt you down and eliminate you. But rest assured, your sister would find a new home with us. At least until we tired of her.”

  
At this several of the pack members shared lewd grins with one another, causing a boiling knot of rage to settle itself in Conri’s stomach. Lycus turned back to him with an eyebrow raised, his alpha authority firmly in place as he awaited an answer. Swallowing down his disgust, Conri gave a curt nod.

  
“Good. You may go,” Lycus said with a wave of his hand. Conri wasted no time in complying, leaving the street as quickly as he could without running. Once the stench of the pack was dimmed, however, Conri let it all out and ran, pounding his frustration and anger and hate into the pavement with every step.

  
By the time he arrived on his own street, Conri was panting heavily. He stopped to rest, leaning on his knees as he heaved huge gulps of chilled air into his starved lungs. His shadow self was quieter now, simmering with anger but still and unmoving like a statue. Conri didn’t bother to question the animal’s behavior, heaving in one last breath as he straightened up and entered his building.

  
He couldn’t help but worry about the time; he knew he was well over the hour that he and Luna had agreed upon. If that gang hadn’t cornered him he would have been able to return in time. He walked up the stairs warily, wondering if she was still even in the apartment. His steps became lighter and more hesitant the closer he got to the door of their apartment. He stopped before the door, listening intently, but he could hear nothing over the sound of his own quiet breaths.

  
After opening the door Conri stood at the threshold uncertainly, trying to detect any hint of his sister. His shadow self rose up, lending his assistance as he sniffed around for the girl. Before either of them could come to a conclusion they heard hurried footsteps down the corridor behind them. Conri turned around in time to see his sister trotting up the hallway with a huge grin on her face, her eyes glued to a sheet of paper in her hands. When she looked up and saw her brother, Luna broke into a jog, running up to Conri and throwing a hug around his shoulders.

  
“Oh my god, Conri, you are not going to believe what just happened!” Luna said excitedly as she extracted herself, all smiles and glowing with happiness.

  
“What? What happened?” Conri asked in bemusement. Luna merely giggled, stepping past him to go inside their apartment He followed his sister, watching as Luna practically bounced on her feet in excitement.

  
“The most absolutely amazing thing ever!” Luna squealed. “While you were gone Officer Richards called-”

  
“Officer who?” Conri interrupted, his shadow self perking up at the name.

  
“You know, the officer who brought you to the station yesterday,” Luna explained with a wave of her hand. “Anyway, he called and said the hospital was looking for an intern to help out-”

  
“Why would he call you for that?” Conri interrupted again, a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. His inner wolf was also tensing, his instincts on red alert.

  
“Conri, how am I supposed to tell you the best news of my life if you keep interrupting?” Luna demanded in annoyance, crossing her arms. “When you were gone for that whole night and day I told him about my job, and that I would much rather intern at the hospital. It was just idle conversation, really, a way to help keep me distracted while they searched for you.” At this Luna shot Conri with a pointed look before continuing. “Anyways, he called today to say he had put in a recommendation for me and they accepted! I start tomorrow! Look, it‘s official and everything!” She waved the sheet of paper she had been holding in his face, Conri just barely able to make out the signatures of one of the hospital’s human resources representatives and his sister’s.

  
Luna was grinning happily at her brother, fully expecting him to give her his blessing. Conri blinked a few times before managing to paste on a smile and hug his sister, but inside he was roaring with anger. His shadow self was practically snarling, his fangs glinting dangerously. There was no way that this hadn’t been planned out, especially if Officer Richards was involved. Whatever his ultimate goal, Lycus was doing whatever he could to trap them into a corner. Conri had always been good at wiggling out of tight traps, able to avoid being caught and stay several steps ahead of any pursuers. But the alpha was cunning and ruthless, and Conri was afraid that this time, they would have no escape.


	10. Hindrance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two reasons for my tardiness: one, I've been obsessed with trying to master my new digital drawing tablet. Two, I'm in the process of moving house. Still a couple of months before we need to be moved, but my family and I have a lot of shit to go through.
> 
> Okay enough excuses hope you enjoy this chapter!

Hindrance

 

Conri did not sleep that night. And if he didn;t sleep, neither did his shadow self. Both were simmering with their own thoughts, their combined frustration and anger almost boiling over several times. Conri sneered at the dark ceiling of his room; how could his bright and intelligent sister not see that this was a set-up? No one just plucked people off the street and set them to taking care of patients in a hospital. It was absurd. He grit his teeth, knowing full well that her desperation for such a job would have blinded her to any suspicions. If he had ever bothered to aspire for something, he probably would have done the same thing in her position. Not that Conri would ever admit to it out loud.

 

By the time the sun was peeking over the horizon and his sister was knocking happily on his door, Conri was exhausted from the lack of sleep. With trepidation, he dragged himself out of bed and shuffled out to the kitchenette where his sister was already cleaned up and dressed for her first day as an intern.

 

"Did you even give your notice to the convenience store?" Conri asked blearily.

 

"Yeah, I did it yesterday after I met up with Officer Richards. You okay Conri? You look...well, you look like shit." Luna cocked an eyebrow at her brother's disheveled appearance.

 

Conri scowled, not bothering to reply as he grabbed some bread and stuffed it into the toaster. Luna shrugged and resumed her cheery attitude; nothing could poke her bubble of happiness today.

 

His inner wolf gave a huge yawn as Conri buttered his toast and took a bite, chewing lethargically. He silently acknowledged the animal's exhaustion, but he could not give in. They still had to escort his sister to her new job. Even though the hospital was much farther away than the convenience store, Conri was insistent on bringing her there himself. It would mean having to call a cab, but it would be worth it just to be sure none of the wolf pack were lurking around.

 

Luna finished eating first. She took the liberty of calling the cab for them, then proceeded to practically skip around the small apartment as she waited with barely veiled impatience for her brother to finish his breakfast. Conri heaved a sigh and crammed the rest of his toast into his mouth, chewing as he grabbed his coat and followed Luna out the door.

 

Downstairs, they only had to wait a few minutes for the cab to arrive. Luna entered all smiles while Conri followed with more reluctance. Neither spoke on the ride to the hospital; Luna was too excited and Conri was too tired and preoccupied. In the end his exhaustion won out and he managed to fall asleep for a short time.

 

He was shaken awake by his sister, who rolled her eyes at his behavior before exiting the vehicle. Conri rubbed his eyes and fished out the appropriate amount of money to pay the cabbie before leaving the car after his sister.

 

His nap was short, but it managed to refresh him enough so that he was able to focus. His shadow self was all ears and nose, sniffing the air carefully and listening to all the sounds around them. Neither could detect the telltale musk of the gang, but that did little to appease Conri. The crowds were too dense to detect individual smells with a single whiff.

 

"Okay, Conri, I'll be out around five tonight," Luna said, shaking him from his musings.

 

"Alright. Best of luck," Conri replied with a strained smile.

 

Luna returned his smile with a hug, stepping back with that glint of concern in her eyes. "Go home. Get some sleep. I'll be fine, okay? You know Officer Richards said that we shouldn't hold so much faith in what we hear around the city. The gang is dangerous but come on, what would they want with a hospital? Don't worry so much, Conri." Luna patted her brother's shoulder and headed to the double doors, waving as she passed through them.

 

Conri heaved a sigh, wishing he had his sister s ability to look on the bright side of life. As it was all he could do was glance around warily, unable to shake the nagging feeling that somewhere close by one of the pack members were lurking. He couldn't smell them, he couldn't hear them, but the feeling remained. And he couldn't allow himself to relax and fall into a false sense of security while that feeling persisted.

 

He grit his jaw and stalked away down the street, wandering more or less in the direction of his apartment building.

 

As he walked, his shadow self remained alert, observing each person they passed with an air of suspicion. Conri kept his eyes glued to the ground, not willing to look around today. Doing so would only tempt him to search for a new target, to edge his way over to the unsuspecting victim and take their money for himself. He couldn't risk the gang coming after him simply because he couldn't keep his hands to himself. Even if it was purely so that he could keep a roof over his head. Conri wondered if he'd even be able to accept that job Mr. Garcia had offered him. Lycus would definitely abhor such a position for the likes of them. But then again, Conri was not one of them, so why should he care?

 

He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that Conri was nearly run over by passing traffic as he came to a crosswalk. His inner wolf yapped at him, trying to get his attention but instead a pair of hands pulled Conri back onto the safety of the sidewalk, a car blaring its horn in anger as it sped by.

 

Conri yanked himself away, thinking one of the gang members had been sent to fetch him again. He was loathe to follow through, about ready to claw out the eyes of the gang member and the alpha, consequences be damned. But as he turned around, he came face to face with an older man with fairly bushy eyebrows. The man scowled down at Conri, his lip curling with displeasure.

 

"What's the matter with you, kid? You have a death wish or something?" he demanded in a gravelly voice.

 

"No, I don't," Conri snapped back. He then heaved a sigh, forcing his temper down a peg. "Thank you for your help, though."

 

"Humph," the man snorted. "Kids these days have no sense of their surroundings. You're just like my sons, they never know to look where they're going."

 

"Normally I am more aware of my surroundings," Conri muttered. He wished the man would go away so that he could continue to bask in his dark mood in peace.

 

"Oh are you now? And what's so important that got your head in a fuzz?" the man asked, arching one bushy eyebrow.

 

"Long story," Conri replied evasively, turning minutely away from the man in hopes that he would get the hint.

 

"Yeah, I don't buy that." The man looked around at the passing crowd, seeming to mull something over in his mind. When he looked back over at Conri, his eyes narrowed with a light that made Conri feel a little uneasy. "Listen, I was just on my way to get some breakfast. Want to join me? You can tell me your tale of woe over some pancakes and maybe I can give you some worldly advice, huh?"

 

Conri peered at the older man, taking in his appearance. He looked to be about in his late forties, but his hair had already turned completely grey. He had a solid build and looked surprisingly fit. His eyes were dark, but bright, and underneath the fuzz of his budding beard his mouth had a natural upward tilt that gave him a permanently sly look. Combined with that slightly mad spark in his eyes, and the man practically screamed mischief.

 

His inner wolf peered out at the man, his head cocked to the side. If he had had eyebrows, Conri was sure they'd be furrowed in confusion. The wolf took a sniff around the air that hung over the man and shook his head, clearly baffled. However, he impressed upon Conri the feeling of trust, though the he wasn't sure if his wolf was altogether right if he was confused about the stranger's presence.

 

With a feeling of trepidation, Conri nodded his agreement and allowed the man to usher him down the street. They soon stopped in front of a small restaurant that Conri had never been to. Inside the atmosphere was warm and cozy, and there were plenty of people sitting at the tables talking comfortably.

 

Once they were seated at an empty booth, they spent the next few minutes in silence as each man pondered over what to order. Though it was implied, Conri hoped the stranger didn't expect him to help pay for the meal. He would gladly throw in his share, but unfortunately the cabbie had taken what little money he had had.

 

The waitress came over and took their orders, whisking away their menus and coming back a few moments later with a pitcher of coffee and two mugs. Conri drank in the scent, having been deprived of coffee for a long time. His shadow self wrinkled his nose at the bitter tang, but the young man relished it.

 

After adding several sugars and some cream, the older man took a swig of his coffee, sighing in satisfaction. Conri ignored the sweeteners and drank his black, earning himself a look of disgust from his companion.

 

"I used to drink my coffee black, but I lost the taste for it years ago," the man remarked, shaking his head.

 

"I don't usually drink coffee. It's been awhile," Conri said with a shrug.

 

"Hmm," the man mused, stirring his coffee idly. "Well, before you launch into your life story, I think introductions are in order. It's only polite, after all. The name's Khan."

 

Conri took the proffered hand, shaking it politely. "Mine's Conri."

 

"Good name, strong name," Khan remarked. "Okay, Conri, fire away."

 

Conri didn't speak right away, his eyes focused on the dark depths of his coffee. He then heaved a sigh and looked up at the stranger to find him gazing back patiently. "You're familiar with the local gang, right?" Conri asked.

 

"What gang?" Khan asked in return, tilting his head at Conri curiously. Before Conri could reply, shock coloring his blood, the man gave a barking laugh. "Ha! Just kidding, son, of course I know those mangy mutts. What about them?"

 

_Some sense of humor,_ Conri muttered to his shadow self. The beast cocked his head, his eyes glinting with amusement. With a mental shake, he said to Khan, "I had run-in with them the other night. After certain...circumstances, I was offered a position where I would help them out whenever they needed my services. I have a month to decide whether or not I will accept." Conri took a swig of his coffee, allowing the taste to temper his frustration, if only briefly.

 

Khan said nothing for a moment, gazing around the restaurant at the other patrons. They sat in silence until their food came. Conri's mouth practically watered at the sight of his pancakes and bacon strips. The wolf also gave an appreciative grumble at the sight of the food. They thanked their waitress as she left, Conri unable to stop himself from digging into his meal. The taste was extraordinary.

 

"You don't treat yourself very often, do you?" Khan asked with a smirk.

 

"No. I can't eat like this everyday," Conri remarked, biting off a large chunk of his bacon.

 

"You could if you joined that gang. They have a lot of money squirreled away. That's what the rumors say, right?" Khan remarked, not seeming to notice Conri choking in surprise.

 

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! You think I would actually _join_ those monsters?!" Conri demanded once he managed to clear his throat.

 

"So you are planning to deny them," the older man stated, peering at Conri with a look of polite interest.

 

"Of course!" Conri said fiercely.

 

"And how do you propose to do that?"

 

Conri opened his mouth to reply, only to fill it with another bite of his pancakes instead. That was his dilemma; how could he deny the most powerful pack the city had ever seen and be able to get himself and his sister away in one piece? And now, with Luna working at the hospital, in a position that she had somehow managed to procure without a single hitch, she was closer to them than ever before. And he did not like it. Not one bit.

 

"You haven't got a clue, boy," Khan remarked after a few silent moments. "Once those mutts take an interest in someone, they don't back down for nothing."

 

"Oh? And how would _you_ know?" Conri snapped, raising a challenging eyebrow at the older man.

 

"I've had my share of encounters with those arrogant pricks," Khan replied with a nasty grin. "They're not nearly as noble as they think they are, but I won't deny they have their cunning. If you want to defy them, you're going to have to find one hell of an escape route out of here."

 

"Out of the city, you mean?" Conri asked incredulously. "That's impossible!"

 

"You know as well as I do that's not true."

 

"And how would you know that?" Conri demanded.

 

"There's always a way out. You just have to be willing to go the distance," the man replied cryptically.

 

Conri huffed and chose to focus the majority of his energy on finishing his breakfast rather than trying to work out what Khan was trying to get at. His stomach was fuller than it had been an a long time. Not that he was out on the streets starving, but the living conditions he and his sister endured were far below standard. His shadow self nudged the man and gave him an image of Conri and Luna thriving in another home, where Conri was able to come and go as they pleased. Conri couldn't help but smile at the image; contentment and happiness rolled off their imagined selves. "But how?" Conri muttered under his breath.

 

"Sometimes the best road out of hell is to venture deeper inside," Khan said, shaking Conri from his musings.

 

"What are you, a fortune cookie?" Conri asked with a snort.

 

"You think I'm that bad, you should meet my wife," Khan replied with a grin. "She's always saying stuff like that."

 

"Fascinating," Conri sighed. "So what did you mean by that?"

 

"What I mean is that maybe instead of fighting those mutts, you should join them," Khan explained, waving his hand to get the attention of the waitress for their check.

 

" _What_?!" Conri sputtered, his inner wolf growling at the very idea. Before he could say anything more, their waitress came over to clear their table and left the bill behind. Khan took it and left the appropriate amount of money inside the booklet along with a substantial tip. Conri glared at the man as he went through the motions, waiting impatiently for an answer.

 

"Are you afraid, Conri?" Khan asked when he had finished.

 

"Of what?" Conri returned venomously.

 

"Of the gang. Of what they would do to you and anyone else you care about."

 

Conri glared at Khan while the older man simply gazed back. There was sympathy in his eyes, a parental sort of kindness that Conri had only seen from Mr. and Mrs. Garcia. It was that look that made his resolve crumble.

 

"Fine. You're right, I am afraid. But I'm more afraid for my sister than for myself. She doesn't...I mean...they should never be allowed to enter her world. And if I accept their proposal, then I'll be stuck with them for life. And so will she. Because no matter how hard I might try, once I'm in I won t be able to get out. So unless you have a better suggestion, I think I'm better off denying them from the start and trying to get me and Luna out of this hellhole.

 

Khan allowed him to speak without interruption, watching the young man carefully. When Conri finished the older man stood up, beckoning him to follow. Conri did so with a perplexed expression. They left the restaurant and began walking down the street as if they were heading to a new destination. But if they were, Conri had no idea where it could be. After a few blocks Khan stopped, turning to look at Conri. The younger took a moment to notice they were in the thick of downtown Aevum City.

 

"Look around, Conri, and tell me what you see," Khan instructed.

 

Conri did as he was told, taking in the familiar buildings and people walking about in their own business. "I see a lot of people and buildings," Conri replied dryly.

 

Khan chuckled, shaking his head. "A reply worthy of my sons. I'll tell you what you should be seeing, though. You should be seeing hundreds of innocent people trying to make their lives as normal and as happy as possible, all the while each and every single person in this city knows they are surrounded by bloodthirsty shadows. But to confront those shadows would mean having to shatter their illusions of a picture perfect life. So they ignore it, pretend it doesn't exist. But the fact remains it does exist. They exist. If you were to manage to deny those mutts and escape the city with your sister, then good for you. A praise worthy of remembrance. But then what of the rest of these people, hmm? They would be left behind, stuck with an angry gang that would take out their frustrations on anyone and everyone who dared to even be within their sight. Would that really be fair to them?

 

"They're not all innocent," Conri muttered, thinking of Officer Richards. His shadow self huffed in agreement, bristling at the image of the corrupt man.

 

"No one is completely innocent," Khan replied with a sad smile. "There will always be people who think of nothing but themselves and what they can gain from others, never giving back. Those mutts are a perfect example of such despicable creatures. But, if they could be proven to be vulnerable, able to crumble at the right amount of pressure, then you might find there will be others who would muster up the courage to help you."

 

"And why do I have to be the one to find that weakness?"

 

"You don't. It's entirely up to you. I only ask that you think about all the consequences of your actions. Those pricks wouldn't have taken an interest in you for nothing. If I were you, I would use that to my advantage."

 

"But I don't even know why they want me..."  Conri tried to deny, but he already knew why. And it did nothing to help him.

 

"Think on it. You're a bright kid, the answer will come to you." Khan clapped a hand on Conri's shoulder, smiling benignly at him. "Thank you for joining me for breakfast. It was an enlightening experience."

 

"For you? What did _you_ become enlightened about?" Conri asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

"I became enlightened about you, my dear boy!" Khan replied, turning away and walking down the street. "Think about all your options, Conri. I think you have more steel than you believe you do."

 

With a final wave, the older man disappeared into the crowds. The wind shifted and Conri was hit with an odd musk, something he was certain he had smelled before. But for the life of him, he couldn't place it. His inner wolf had the same odd look in his eyes from when they first met Khan, but he gave no indication of what he knew.

 

Conri shook his head and headed back to his apartment, refusing to think too deeply about anything. By the time he reached his bedroom, his exhaustion had crept back upon him and his inner wolf. Conri crawled onto the unkempt bed, curling up on his side and falling asleep within seconds of closing his eyes.

 

\- - -

 

Dusk was falling fast, and the few stragglers that were out on the streets were hurrying to get home to the safety of their friends and families. He alone of them all seemed at ease, meandering his way through the streets as if he had not a single care in the world. It was enough to make one want to vomit.

 

The alpha sneered at the older man s visage, his shadow self bristling at the intruder upon his territory. Nearby, a few of his pack were lingering in the shadows, awaiting their alpha's command. But none came, for Lycus was content to simply watch and observe. And wait for the right moment to present itself.

 

Without a word to his pack brothers, Lycus began to move silently along the rooftop, jumping the short distance between buildings with ease. Behind him, he could detect his followers trailing behind, stealthy in their own right but not nearly as fluid in their movements as he was. Lycus resisted the urge to roll his eyes in disgust and instead focused on the older man as he walked down an empty road leading out of the city.

 

Just before he managed to cross the invisible boundaries, Lycus made his move. He leapt out in front of the man, staring him down with every ounce of alpha command he possessed. His pack brothers positioned themselves around their prey, grinning with barely concealed bloodlust.

 

"Evening, Khan," Lycus greeted coldly.

 

"Lycus," the older man replied stiffly. He seemed completely unconcerned that he was surrounded by dangerous creatures, but that did not surprise Lycus in the least.

 

"And what exactly has brought you to my territory? I believe we had an agreement, did we not?" Lycus raised an eyebrow at the older man, a sneer playing on his lips.

 

Khan snorted in mock amusement. "That we did, Lycus. But I seem to recall you intruding on my territory first. So the way I see it, fair is fair."

 

"We were hunting prey, not that it's any concern of yours," Lycus remarked dryly.

 

"Prey that stumbled upon my land. And I would have handled it if you hadn't come running through with your damn pack!"

 

At this Lycus let out a laugh, humorless and jarring in the silent night air. "Oh is that so, Khan? I think we both know how exactly you would have handled that prey, and believe me it wouldn't bring back what you lost.

 

Khan's face remained devoid of emotion, though his eyes flashed dangerously. Lycus chuckled again and stepped aside, leaving the road wide open for the older man.

 

"As you said, fair is fair. Come into my territory again, though, for whatever reason you concocted in that simple mind of yours, and I will unleash my pack upon you. You won't have your kitty cats to play guard for you next time."

 

Khan cast one more look of revulsion toward Lycus before he continued down the road, his gait steady if a little more stiff than before. With a nod of his head, Lycus ushered his pack brothers back into their city. The night was young, and a hunt was definitely in order.


	11. Calculations

Calculations

 

Over the next five days, Luna remained in a blissful state of happiness while Conri remained in a dark state of brooding. Any other time, in any other city, Conri would be happy for his sister; she was finally doing a job she loved, and he would never want to take it way from her. But in this city, with _that_ particular gang...it was too much for him to want to deal with.

 

If Luna knew of Conri's disapproval, she never made any mention of it. Not that he blamed her. All of her energy and focus was on her job, learning new skills and procedures that would shoot her up the ladder to doctor status someday. And she would excel at it, just as she excelled at medical school while surrounded by the dank and depressing walls of their orphanage.

 

The only thing Conri really excelled at was being a petty thief, and he had had to give that up so as not to attract unwanted attention from the local pack. Not that they didn't still watch him. He could feel their eyes some mornings when he dropped his sister off at the hospital. One time he actually saw a couple of them, lurking in the shadows unbeknownst to the passing pedestrians. Conri had wanted to snarl at the men, to show them he was not something to push around, but he swallowed the urge and stalked away, venting his frustration into a pavement pounding walk that carried him quickly back to his apartment.

 

But he couldn't keep up the charade much longer. Although Luna was earning more doing her internship at the hospital than she had at the convenience store, it was still not enough to support both of them. Neither had talked about it yet, but he knew it would come. And he knew she would refuse to approve of him going back to thieving.

 

Again, though, he really didn't have a choice in that matter.

 

On this day, Conri was becoming wholeheartedly sick of being cooped up in the apartment day after day. His shadow self was constantly itching at the back of his mind, urging him to go outside and do something, _anything_. At least when they were pick-pocketing, it had strengthened their hunting skills and the wolf was able to be content with that much. But now, this sedentary lifestyle was just maddening.

 

So Conri finally relented and left his apartment, intent on a simple walk around their rundown neighborhood. Odds were a few of the pack members would be keeping tabs on him here as well, but it was hardly necessary; even on the best days, these streets were a virtual ghost town.

 

He trudged down the hallway, shoulders slumped and hands in his pockets; the picture of defeat. He was nearly at the stairs when one of the other apartment doors opened and Mr. Garcia called him back.

 

"Conri! May I speak with you, please?"

 

Conri resisted the urge to sigh and turned back to the kindly neighbor, managing something akin to a smile.

 

"What can I do for you, Mr. Garcia?" he asked politely.

 

"I wanted to ask if you had come to a decision about that job offer I told you about,"  Mr. Garcia replied, leaning against the door frame.

 

"Oh." Conri had hardly given the job offer a second thought, being too preoccupied with his sister and the gang. But now he did. No doubt it would help with expenses, which meant they'd still have a roof over their heads. Albeit a crappy roof. His shadow self sent Conri the image of the alpha, his feral grin sending shivers down the man's spine even in memory. He didn't have to question the meaning behind this one. It didn't matter if he was being a pickpocket or working in a mail room; Lycus did not want him to associate too closely with the people off this city. Or, as he referred to them, the sheep.

 

"Mr. Garcia, I know the job would be ideal. But, I can't accept," Conri muttered to the floor. He felt guilty about turning down the man's help, but he couldn't risk angering the pack. "With Luna's new job...I just don't want something to happen and me not be able to be there for her."

 

He looked up cautiously to see Mr. Garcia smiling at him kindly. The look loosened the knot of guilt in his stomach, if only slightly.

 

"I understand Conri. You want to be there for her, to protect her. But I have to say this; she is not a child anymore. She is an adult, and at some point you'll have to loosen your hold on her. I cannot deny that I wish you were turning this job down for yourself and not for her, but hey, to each their own. Thank you for considering it, Conri. You have a good day, hmm?"

 

Mr. Garcia clapped him on the shoulder and retreated back into his apartment, leaving Conri feeling even more guilty. He sighed and turned back to the stairs, heading down to the ground floor and outside in the crisp afternoon air.

 

His inner wolf breathed in deeply, ignoring the tang of trash and decay that littered the streets and alleyways. Instead, the beast focused on the cool breeze that came through Aevum City. On the chilly air as it coated their face, the distant scent of the forest seemed so close yet so far from reach.

 

Conri couldn't help but smile at the animal's enthusiasm. It was a welcomed distraction from his own predicament.

 

He walked aimlessly down the streets, turning as it pleased him. He was virtually the only other one out and about; around here the only options for entertainment were to walk the dirty streets or stay inside and pretend the decay didn't reach that far. Most opted for the second choice, especially during these cold wintry months of the year.

 

Conri turned another corner and heard the low murmur of voices ahead. He slowed his steps, caution warning him to stay as quiet as possible. His shadow self rose to the surface, lending strength to his ears and nose. Conri tilted his head, trying to catch the tone of the voices. They were hushed and rapid, with several pauses between. He let out a breath and relaxed; they were nothing more than a pair of men trying to have a private conversation.

 

He went to leave the street and give them the privacy they wanted, but curiosity peaked its head at that moment. The only types that needed to have a hushed conversation in broad daylight were doing sly deals that would be considered criminal. Conri wavered, his caution at war with his curiosity. His inner wolf offered no assistance in this, choosing instead to watch the young man's dilemma on the sidelines.

 

With a huff, Conri turned on his heel and made his way quietly over to the men, stopping short of the side street where they were located. He peered up at the building he was next to, and thanked whatever deity would listen that it was abandoned. He ducked around the other side to the fire escape and climbed up stealthily. After a few minutes, Conri was on the rooftop. He crept along the cracked cement until he came to the ledge that overlooked the two men. Settling down, he let his ears paint the picture for him.

 

"Look, it doesn't seem right. It's too good to be true!" one of them men was saying in undertone, his pitch both panicked and hopeful.

 

"Hey, I got the information you wanted. It wasn't easy you know; I could have been killed! My source is very reliable, though, topnotch. He has never steered anyone wrong," the second voice replied, his tone holding the same oily smoothness that all criminals seemed to have. This made Conri wonder if he had the same tone. He shook his head, forcing that thought away and focusing back on the men.

 

"Oh, that reliable, huh? Then why won't you give me his name?"

 

"It's a verbal agreement that I don't reveal his identity in case of...unfortunate circumstances."

 

"Unfortunate...? For the love of god I am trying to get away from this hellhole and you're telling me there's a chance it could go wrong?!" the first man's voice rose a pitch, causing the other to frantically shush him.

 

"Keep it down, will you?! There's no telling who might be listening. That's why I can't reveal his name, you gotta understand that. When it comes to this sort of thing, it's always dodgy. But isn't the promise of freedom worth all the trouble?"

 

"Not if it endangers the lives of my family! I have children, I can't risk the possibility of them getting hurt, or worse, if this plan were to fail!

 

"Well, buddy, you don't have any other option. You either take this man's advice and go down that road, or stay in this fucked up city and rot with the rest of us. Your choice."

 

There was silence for a few minutes, and if Conri didn't have sensitive hearing he would have assumed the men had gone their separate ways. However, he knew they were still standing in the street, both waiting for the other to say something.

 

"Fine...fine, give me the map. And take your damn money. This better be worth it," the first man said wearily.

 

"Here you go, buddy. Best of luck to you and your family," the second replied, the grin evident in his voice.

 

The sound of hurried footsteps made their way down the street, carrying the owner away within moments. However, Conri could tell the second man had not yet left. He was humming happily under his breath, apparently counting the money he had garnered. Conri felt a spike of hate toward the crook, and he sincerely hoped that what he had given was a genuine map and not something that would fuck up the man and his family.

 

Impulsively, he came to a sudden decision and stood up from his hiding place, leaping down onto the pavement before the other man, taking added strength from his shadow self to soften the fall. The crook nearly jumped out of skin to see Conri land in front of him so suddenly, his eyes bulging out of his skull. He made to run off, but Conri was faster. He grabbed the man by his ratty jacket and hauled him back to the brick wall of the abandoned building, knocking the man's breath out of his lungs in a rush of air.

 

"Hey, I don't have anything worthwhile for you!" he yelled desperately, scrambling desperately in Conri's grip. His shadow self sniffed at the squirming figure, curling his lip at the stench that clung to his skin and clothes. He growled low in his throat; the man was not very trustworthy, but he posed no threat to them.

 

"That map you gave to the other man, was it genuine?" Conri demanded in a low voice. His senses were all over the place, making sure they were truly alone and that no unwanted attention came their way.

 

"What's the matter with you?! You like eavesdropping on people, kid?" the man sneered evasively. Conri tightened his grip making him squeak. " _Gah_! Okay, okay, yes it was genuine! You happy now?"

 

"No," Conri replied with a feral grin. "Who is your source for that map?"

 

"Look, if you really were spying on us then you'd know I can't tell you that," the man grumbled. Conri felt something shift within his mind, something that called for him to bring this mangy cur to his knees.

 

"Oh, you'll tell me," Conri promised as he tightened his grip yet again. For a moment the other man could barely breathe, his scruffy face turning an unpleasant shade of red, then purple. After a few long moments, Conri eased his grip and allowed the man to take great big gulps of air.

 

"I can't tell you, I don't even know you!" the man pleaded.

 

"Look, that last guy isn't the only one trying to look out for his family. Tell me your source, _now_!" Conri demanded.

 

"If it's a way out you want then let me go to my guy! I'll get your information, promise! There is a matter of a fee, of course-" His words were cut off by a fierce growl that ripped from Conri's throat involuntarily. Belatedly he cursed himself for a fool, but it was too late. The man's panic was shoved into overdrive, and he kicked and clawed at Conri like a wild animal, preparing for its last fight on earth.

 

The fear this man gave off, the primal emotion of prey incarnate lit that stirring within from a slow burn to a raging inferno. With another growl, he and his shadow self slammed together, using their strength to subdue the panicking man. A feral grin plastered in place, Conri managed to force him face to face. Whatever the man saw in Conri's eyes stilled him instantly, making him whimper with fear. The sound only spurred on the predator in Conri.

 

"Tell me who your source is. Now," Conri growled, the wolf's timber of command echoing in his words.

 

"His name is John Malcolm. He's an older guy, a janitor for this office building-"

 

"Where?"

 

"I-it's some guy's name, I don't know! I just know it's on the corner of Stone and Maple! I swear it, _please_!"

 

Conri considered this for a moment, ignoring the man's sputtering pleads. A smile graced his face, which caused his prey to still with a mixture of fear and hope. Conri turned back to face him, his eyes pinning the already subdued man.

 

"You better not be lying to me. If I find out you gave me false information, if you gave that other man false information, I _will_ hunt you down," Conri promised fiercely. He let go abruptly, stepping away from the man, who wasted no time in scrambling to his feet and tearing away out of sight.

 

He stood for a moment, the thrumming of his blood slowing until it had returned to normal, leaving behind a sense of overwhelming shame and disgust. _What the hell did I just do?_ Conri ran a hand through his hair; the rush of power he had held over the man was gone, leaving him feeling guilty and empty. He had never used the wolf for exercising power over others; he tried not to use the wolf at all if he could get away with it. But this time it was...amazing. Their strength, their command, the way they had that human cowering to their might-

 

Conri was shaken from his thoughts by a musky scent on the breeze. He stiffened, his inner wolf curling his lip at the smell. He wasted not a second more and took off down the streets, carrying himself far away from the gang member.

 

By the time he reached his apartment building, Conri had come to a decision. He took the stairs two at a time and stopped in front of the Garcia's door, knocking a few rapid times. Mr. Garcia opened the door, smiling when he saw Conri.

 

"Hey, what can I do for you?" he asked the younger man.

 

"If it's not too late, I'd like to take that job offer," Conri said.

 

"Really? That's great! What made you change your mind?"

 

"I had some time to really understand what is important," Conri replied with a shrug, hoping he didn't sound too suspicious.

 

Mr. Garcia grinned at that. He gave Conri the information he needed, saying that he would show him to Human Resources on Monday. He would call ahead and let them know they had a new possibility for the job. After they said their goodbyes, Conri left for his own apartment, not stopping until he was sitting on his bed with his head in his hands.

 

He certainly had come to a decision. He couldn't risk himself becoming like those bloodthirsty bastards, and apparently he was closer to that hell than he had ever thought was possible. His shadow self tried to claim his attention, but Conri brushed the animal aside. He couldn't allow too much contact with him right now. The best chance he had was to get himself and his sister away from this city, as soon as he could.

 

Conri looked out the window, seeing the faint figure of the moon against the blue sky. His time was running out, and he wasn't sure if he had what it took to do what was necessary.


	12. Patience

Patience

 

By the time Conri left to escort Luna home, he had gotten his mind in a twisted knot of confusion and doubt. Time and time again, his inner wolf would keep nudging him, and he would keep pushing the beast away. In the back of his mind, Conri knew the wolf probably had something important to communicate with him, but he didn’t want to hear it. For as long as he could, he would simply ignore the animal and focus on his own problems.

 

As usual Luna was all smiles when she entered the cab, chatting away about what she had learned and observed. Conri simply let her talk, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to add anything useful to the conversation. He would, however, need to find an appropriate break in her story where he could tell her about his ‘proper’ job interview. He allowed himself a wry grin, imagining her reaction to that bit of news.

 

By the time Luna had run out of steam they were already back in their apartment, where his sister set out to the kitchenette to make herself dinner. Conri heaved a sigh, preparing himself mentally as he approached her.

 

“So, guess what happened to me today?” he remarked casually as she gathered the ingredients for her sandwich.

 

“What happened? Wait, does it have anything to do with getting arrested?” Luna asked, eyeing her older brother suspiciously.

 

“Do you really think I’d be stupid enough to get caught?” Conri retorted.

 

“You did get a strike for stealing clothes,” his sister shot back with a grin on her face.

 

“Fine, one time I actually got caught. But seriously, nothing like that happened.”

 

“Well what did happen?” Luna pressed as she made her way over to the couch and plopped down with a sigh, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

 

“Mr. Garcia came to me last week with a job offer at his office building, and I accepted. I go in Monday for the official interview,” Conri said, watching his sister closely.

 

Luna gasped in surprise, the noise greatly muffled due to the food in her mouth. She quickly swallowed and let out a proper screech, almost deafening Conri in the process. “Conri that’s amazing! It’s about time you went out to do some honest work! Oh, it’ll be so great to have us both working, we won’t have to worry so much about expenses anymore!”

 

“Well, I still need to do the interview, Luna,” Conri remarked with an amused smile.

 

Luna waved off his comment. “Yeah yeah, I know that, but still! This is so great, Conri. Really. You’re finally taking some responsibility for us.” Luna was grinning widely as she turned back to her sandwich, flicking through the channels on their old TV set. Conri allowed himself a wry grin and grabbed a banana from the kitchenette and joined his sister on the couch, both siblings eating and watching the fuzzy channels contentedly.

 

\- - -

 

By the time Monday came around, however, Conri was regretting his decision to agree to do the interview. He could have easily broken in to the building, hunted down this mysterious John Malcolm, and gotten what he needed instead. But he had been so disturbed by his brutal taking of the information that led him to accepting an interview at the same building John Malcolm worked in that he had wanted to go about this in a more delicate manner.

 

When Luna went to the door to leave for work, Conri made to follow her out only to be stopped with a hard stare.

 

“You have an interview today, you’ll only be late if you’re riding to the hospital with me. I’ll be fine, Conri, really,” Luna said, giving her brother a quick hug before dashing away down the hall.

 

Conri heaved a sigh and grabbed his jacket, trudging down the hall as Mr. Garcia emerged from his apartment.

 

“Conri, good morning!” he greeted cheerfully.

 

“Good morning, Mr. Garcia,” Conri replied, forcing a smile onto his face.

 

“Ready for your interview?” Mr. Garcia asked as they both descended the stairs.

 

“Yeah, but I couldn’t find anything…professional to wear,” Conri remarked, looking down at his old jacket, t-shirt, and jeans. His sneakers were looking pretty worse for wear, too.

 

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a minor job, they’re not looking for someone to be the face of their building,” the older man said bracingly, clapping Conri on the shoulder.

 

“Is there really no one else in line for the job?” Conri asked once they got outside. The cab was already sitting by the curb, waiting for them.

 

“As far as I know, you’re the only one,” Mr. Garcia said, settling himself down in the back of the cab. “Like I said, it doesn’t require a whole lot of know-how. You get all your training on the job, which only involves sorting and sending letters, within the office and to the outside. There are those who aim for higher positions within the building, but generally the mail room is a basic platform for everyone.”

 

Conri nodded, seemingly assured as he watched the streets roll by on their way to the interview. He tried to think of a plan of action once he actually got inside the building. Perhaps he could question some people, try to find out where this John Malcolm was generally located. Or he could just sneak around and stay under the radar. But he was unfamiliar with the layout of the building, so that wouldn’t do. Conri ran a hand over his eyes tiredly, wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into.

 

The cab rolled up to the building, and Mr. Garcia and Conri exited the vehicle. Conri looked up, seeing the large letters on the front of the brick proclaiming it to be ‘Anderson Inc.’ He wrinkled his nose at the sight and reluctantly followed Mr. Garcia inside.

 

“Okay Conri, I’ll show you where Human Resources is,” Mr. Garcia said, beckoning the young man to follow him.

 

As they walked, Conri paid very close attention to their route, taking in the placement of the paintings on the walls and the numbers on the doors. He also filed away the people he passed, making sure to imprint their faces into his memory.

 

They came to a set of elevators and entered the one on the left, along with several other people. All of them were wearing tailored suits, crisp and clean. None of them spared a glance to Conri or Mr. Garcia. The young man felt the urge to scowl, but held himself in check; he was not here to belittle the narrow minded business people.

 

Once the elevator arrived on the fifth floor, Mr. Garcia gestured for Conri to follow, taking off down another maze of winding hallways and cubicles. Eventually, they came to a door labeled ‘Human Resources’.

 

“Okay, Conri, here we are. You’re interviewing with a man named Carl Bennett. Good luck!” Mr. Garcia said, clasping his shoulder before taking off back the way they had come. Conri hesitated a moment before entering the space, looking around at the setup.

 

There were several people sitting at their desks, talking on phones or typing away at their computers. Doors branched off from the main area into personal offices and storage rooms. Conri went up to front desk and waited for the woman to finish talking on the phone. After a few moments, she hung up and looked Conri over with appraising eyes.

 

“Yes, may I help you?” she asked politely, but with an undertone that spoke of disdain. His shadow self raised his hackles slightly, growling low in his throat at the woman’s tone.

 

“My name is Conri Kinsley, I have an interview with a Carl Bennett,” Conri said, making his tone even as the woman continued to stare at him with dull eyes.

 

“One moment please,” she replied, turning to her computer and clacking away at the keys. Conri shifted his stance, his impatience and annoyance inching higher. He felt his shadow self stir within, not trying to claim the man’s attention but making himself known. Conri sighed inwardly and turned his focus back to the woman.

 

“Alright Mr. Kinsley. You’ll find Mr. Bennett’s office down the hall and to the left,” the woman said with a vague smile. Conri nodded his thanks and took off in the indicated direction.

 

As he walked, he was given only a cursory glance-over before the others turned back to their work, deeming him uninteresting. Conri ignored them in turn as he came to the office labeled with Carl Bennett’s name. The door was closed, and he could hear a man talking inside. He raised his hand and knocked three abrupt times.

 

The flow of speech paused for a moment, until Conri heard the man raise his voice. “Yes, come in.”

 

Conri opened the door to find a rather spacious office area, filled with all manner of shelves holding books and decorative objects, plenty of plush looking chairs and a couch that sat against the wall to his right. Directly in front of him sat a large desk, behind which was small, mousy looking man with balding hair and large glasses. He motioned for Conri to sit in one of the chairs by the front of his desk before turning his own chair around for the illusion of privacy and continuing with his conversation. Conri sat down, leaning back a little in an attempt to appear relaxed, but he was not in any such mood.

 

Several minutes ticked by. Mr. Bennett did not stop his conversation with whomever was on the other line, and it did not seem as if there would be a break any time soon. Conri scowled behind the man’s back, glaring around at the extravagant office. He began tapping his foot lightly against the floor in an effort to decrease the tension that was coiling tighter and tighter, but it did not soothe him long enough. His inner wolf was of no help either; the beast simply paced within, pausing every so often to gaze at Conri with his ancient eyes before resuming his pacing.

 

After another few minutes passed, Conri couldn’t help but let out a low growl and turn his attention fully on his shadow companion. _What do you want?!_ he asked harshly. The wolf stopped and turned to face the man. For a moment the animal only gazed at him, head tilted slightly to the side. Then, Conri was given a single image; two lights glimmering faintly in the darkness, inching closer and closer until they were merging with one another, their combined light becoming brighter until the darkness was completely chased away. The young man stared at the image, unable to wrap his head around it when his shadow self gave a single feeling to Conri; trust.

 

Conri looked at his inner wolf, and he could feel the pull of their two spirits as if they were magnetic. He shook his head inwardly, forcing himself away from the animal. Now was not the time for this; it was too dangerous. He had already seen how being more fully bonded to the animal could easily turn him into another bloodthirsty monster, and it was a risk he was not willing to take.

 

“Mr. Kinsley!”

 

Conri snapped away from his shadow self, his attention on the man before him. Mr. Bennett was staring at him with his eyebrows raised, a look of annoyance and a smidgen of concern apparent on his face.

 

“Is everything alright?” he asked professionally.

 

Conri nodded, shifting to a more comfortable position in his chair. “Yes, Mr. Bennett. I’m fine. I guess I just got lost in thought.” He peered over at the older man, gauging his reaction. Mr. Bennett still seemed a little suspicious, but he willingly brushed the feeling aside as he spoke.

 

“Understandable. I do apologize, but that was an important call and it needed to be dealt with immediately. Anyway, let’s start this interview.”

 

For the next hour Conri sat and spoke in short sentences as Mr. Bennett fired off his questions, many of which had little to do with the actual mail room job. When such questions came up, Conri could feel his impatience flare up a little more. All he really wanted to do was hunt down that Malcolm guy and yet here he was, stuck in a fancy office with a stuffy suit droning on and on about useless things he didn’t even need to know. It was maddening.

 

“Well, Mr. Kinsley, everything seems to be in decent order,” Mr. Bennett finally said. “We’ll take a look over your records and get back to you if you’re qualified enough for the job.”

 

Conri sat there for a moment, staring at the older man. He sincerely hoped he hadn’t just wasted his time going through with this. He stood up, shaking hands with Mr. Bennett and thanking him with a fake smile plastered onto his face. Conri then left the office and the Human Resources department as quickly as he could without attracting unwanted attention.

 

He made his way back toward the elevators, his mood dark and surly. Conri was ready to abandon the whole plan, deciding then and there that this was indeed a waste of his precious time. He only had a few weeks left before the pack would come for him, and he couldn’t sit around idly and wait for the news that he may or may not have gotten the job. A job that he wasn’t really even invested in doing, either.

 

As he turned a corner, he spotted a middle aged woman collecting trash. Conri stopped in his tracks, his mind quickly formulating a plan. He continued down the hall and stopped by her cleaning cart, a kind mask on his face.

 

“Excuse me, I was wondering if you could help me?” Conri asked her politely.

 

“Of course, what can I do for you?” she asked in return, smiling pleasantly.

 

“My father had an old friend years ago, and I was told he works here as part of the cleaning staff. Do you think you could point me to where he is? My father’s been sick lately, and I don’t think he has too much time left. His last wish was to see his friend one more time before he passes away.” Conri gauged the reaction of the woman as he spoke, watching her expression turn sympathetic and sad. He felt a twinge of guilt for lying to someone who was clearly honorable and kind, but he needed another plan if he was going to get what he needed.

 

“I am so sorry, hon. I can certainly help you out, what’s your father’s friend’s name?” she asked.

 

“John Malcolm,” Conri replied.

 

“Oh.” The woman’s face fell, and for a moment Conri feared the worst. “I’m afraid he works the night shift. Long after everyone else had gone home and the place locks down. I can see about getting a message to him for you, I’m sure he’d be happy to call on you and your father once he gets out of work.”

 

Conri tried to gather his thoughts into a coherent order, fumbling with a new plan of attack. “N-no, that’s okay, don’t trouble yourself! I can catch up with him before he gets to work, I’m sure. What time does he start?”

 

“Hmm, I believe he starts around seven o’clock. Forgive me, hon, I’ve only just started working here myself, I’m not entirely familiar with everyone’s schedules just yet.”

 

“That’s okay. At least I have some idea now. Thank you for your help.” Conri smiled and waved to the kind woman, who returned with a kind “Hope everything turns out alright!”

 

Conri entered the elevator a short moment later, working out a rough idea of what he would need to do later that night. His shadow self let out a small huff, shaking his fur in what the man could only assume was disapproval. Conri grit his jaw, and once the elevator doors opened on the ground floor he stepped out and walked down the hallway with a swift pace. He did not need his companion’s approval for what he had to do. The animal wouldn’t understand.

 

He stopped by the front desk in the main lobby, asking the woman there to give a message to Mr. Garcia that he was heading home and awaiting the results of his interview. After being assured his message would reach the kindly man, Conri left the building and started the long walk home.


	13. Distractions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many apologies for the delay in updating, and unfortunately there will likely be another long delay after this post. I'll be officially moving house this weekend and the internet will be getting shut off either Thursday or Friday. And who knows when it'll get hooked back up at the new place.
> 
> But once it does come back updates will resume as usual! Thank you so much for your continued patience and support, they mean the world to me!

Distractions

 

When Mr. Garcia got out of work, he stopped by Conri’s apartment and asked him how the interview had gone. He was sorely tempted to say that he hadn’t gotten the job and leave it at that, but his conscience won out and he told the truth.

 

“Hmm,” Mr. Garcia mused. “Well, I’m sure you’ll be hired before long. Like I said, you’re the only candidate they have, and they don’t like having open positions laying around; not conducive to business. I wouldn’t worry too much on it, Conri.”

 

“I’ll try not to. How long do they usually take with their decisions?” Conri asked nonchalantly.

 

“Oh, it always depends on the individual and whatever other work they need to attend to, but I’d say a safe bet would be between two to six weeks,” Mr. Garcia replied, his gaze on the far wall. It was a good thing, too, for Conri’s face twisted into a mask of frustration and a growl threatened to emanate from his throat. He managed to compose himself in time once his neighbor turned back to him.

 

“Oh, okay,” Conri said with a shrug.

 

Mr. Garcia chuckled. “Don’t worry, Conri. You’ll be fine, rest assured.”

 

Conri smiled and nodded, bidding the older man farewell as he disappeared into his own apartment. Conri turned to trudge into his bedroom, where he sat down heavily on his bed and stared blankly at the floor.

 

He really didn’t have time for this. All he needed was to get to John Malcolm, get the information he needed, then take his sister as far from this hell as possible. At least he had another ace up his sleeve. Conri turned to look at the digital clock on his nightstand, noting he had a few hours to spare before he could stalk the office building and wait for the man to show up.

 

It occurred to Conri he would need to use some force, at least to get the man to listen to him. He shuddered, cringing at the part of him that relished the idea. His shadow self huffed and gave a short, canine purr to calm his nerves. Conri allowed it, desperate for some kind of serenity.

 

Just then, the phone started ringing.

 

With a low grumble, Conri heaved himself off his bed and walked out into the living room, picking up the offending object that was disturbing his fragile peace.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Conri, it’s Luna.”

 

Conri’s heart immediately clenched, his mind off and running with all manner of horrible reasons for why his sister was calling. “Luna? What’s wrong? Are you alright? Do you need me to come get you?” he rattled off at high speed.

 

“Conri, relax, I can call you without there being an emergency,” Luna stated; he could practically hear her roll her eyes.

 

“Well excuse me for being protective,” Conri retorted, his nerves calming down slightly. “So why did you call?”

 

“There’s been an accident, and the doctor I’ve been shadowing thinks it would be a good experience for me to watch over the procedures. I’ll be home late, not entirely sure how long but I just didn’t want you to freak out. Okay?”

 

On the contrary, Conri was grateful. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about sneaking past his sister to go hunt down John Malcolm. “Okay, do what you need to do. What happened, anyway?”

 

“Well, I can’t give away too many details, but a family was found out by the Shells. Why they would even be out there, I have no idea. But anyway, I really do have to go. I’ll see you when I get home, Conri. Love you!”

 

With that, his sister hung up. But Conri was frozen, the phone still gripped in his hand. The Shells; surely, he hadn’t heard correctly. No one in their right mind would go near that toxic waste. He had only ever skimmed the edge of it when the pack had first chased him, the wild tangle of vegetation shielding the worst of the disaster. Which begged the question, what would a family be doing in such a place?

 

A sour feeling rose up at the back of his throat. Conri slammed the phone back down onto its receiver, grabbing his jacket and keys and storming out of his apartment.

 

That couldn’t have possibly been the same man he had seen the other day. No one would tell a family to go through the Shells to find freedom. It was insanity. There had to have been a mistake. There just had to have been.

 

Conri’s furious pace carried him quickly through his neighborhood, heading back to the downtown area. The night was settling in quickly, and people were rushing to get home. Those unfortunate enough to have night jobs were also scampering along the streets, intent on getting into the safety of their work. He ignored them all, his mind on one thing and one thing only.

 

Until his shadow self gave a warning growl, making Conri stop in his tracks. He turned his head in time to catch a shadow slipping away quickly, but his scent lingered behind. Conri’s lip curled, his anger fueling his blood until he found himself taking off after the shadow, his mind narrowed into a single, deadly thought; he must pay.

 

His inner wolf fueled his strength and speed until Conri was running flat out on nearly silent feet, slipping easily around hidden objects and cracks in the road. He ran on, his prey’s scent growing stronger by the second. Fear was causing them to blunder around, creating an easy track for Conri to follow.

 

Finally, his prey made the mistake that would put the final nail in his coffin. He ducked down an alleyway, thinking he could climb up over the fence and continue running. However, this alleyway ran into a solid wall, with the only way out being the way he had come in. And Conri was blocking that particular route.

 

“Look it’s not what you think! Honest! I had to do it, he _made_ me do it!” the oily crook blubbered. Conri paused, narrowing his eyes at the filthy scum before him.

 

“Explain yourself. Now,” Conri demanded in a low voice.

 

“He paid me to give them a different map, and if I didn’t do what he said he’d make me beg for death! I had no other choice, you gotta believe me!” the man pleaded, cowering against the brick wall.

 

Conri kept advancing upon him until he was mere feet away. His blood was thrumming in his veins, his blood lust high. In the back of his mind a small voice tried to warn him to hold onto his sanity, but the primal part of him silenced the annoying thing.

 

Together, he and his inner wolf let out a fierce growl, causing their prey to fall to his knees, pleading over and over again that he had no other choice. His fear was intoxicating.

 

“Their lives have been destroyed,” Conri hissed, his voice low and growling. “They’ll never be the same again, if they even survive this night. That’s your fault. Your doing.”

 

“ _No_! No, I couldn’t defy this guy, he runs this town! I would have died if I didn’t do what he said!”

 

“So you let a family take your place! You let innocent children suffer to save your own oily skin!”

 

“Why the fuck do you care anyway?!” the crook suddenly yelled, a flare of anger overriding his fear. “You’re just like those monsters, I see it in your eyes! You’re just as vile as the rest of them! You’re just a _freak_!”

 

Conri stilled for a moment, the man’s words resonating painfully through his skull. A barrier within his mind snapped, and a wave of rage engulfed him and his shadow self. The wolf’s body tore apart the human’s, black and brown fur flying toward the screaming man as his last sight was filled with flashing teeth and piercing eyes. He lunged toward his prey, tearing at the delicate throat and ripping it apart. The burst of blood in his mouth was the sweetest taste he had ever had the pleasure of experiencing. But he didn’t stop there. Over and over again, he tore through the trembling body, ripping apart arms and legs, digging into the soft meat of the belly with his claws and spreading the guts all over the alley. His paws stepped onto squishy organs, splattering blood and pus and adding to the already filthy ground. Finally, nothing was left of the man but a pile of dismembered limbs and organs, their escaping heat steaming in the chilly night. Pride washed over Conri as he flung his head back and howled his victory, his muzzle still dripping in the warm blood of his fallen prey. He had conquered the pathetic beast; there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind now that Conri was a force to be reckoned with-

 

A chorus of howls pierced the night, answering his call. And with that, Conri snapped back into reality.

 

Horror. Horror and disgust were all he could feel now. Looking upon the wreckage of the once human man he gagged and vomited onto the ground, adding to the unpleasant aroma that had already permeated the air. He could still taste the blood, the _human_ blood in his mouth. It was so vile, he longed to tear his tongue right out of his head so he would never again taste such a gut-wrenching flavor.

 

Conri turned and ran, not caring that he was still in his wolf form, not caring if there were witnesses to see him running through the dark streets. He needed to be somewhere clean, somewhere he could wash away this horrible memory and erase it from history.

 

But the only place that would be anywhere near good enough was too far out of reach, and his sister would be home soon. It was too risky for Conri to run off to the forest, even though at that moment he had never wanted to do anything more in his life.

 

He ran through the streets nimbly, a silent shadow that was there one moment and gone the next. It took little time for him to arrive at his apartment building. He climbed up the fire escape and inched his way along the lip that ran around his floor. Once he came to his window, Conri nosed the glass pane up and stumbled into his room, practically tearing himself out of his wolf form and forcing himself back into his human skin. A mistake, as the blood was still coated on his body and the taste still lingered in his mouth. He barely made it in time to the bathroom where he vomited a second time.

 

The next half hour was spent scrubbing away every sign of blood, rubbing himself raw and practically making himself bleed in the process. But it wasn’t enough. Conri could still feel the warm, life giving liquid seeped into his skin, a permanent sign of what he had done. He wondered if he could ever get the vile taste out of his mouth.

 

During this whole procedure, his shadow self remained silent and watchful, nothing of his emotions or opinions coming through to Conri. At the time, he paid little attention to the creature, too wrapped up in his own self-hatred to care what the wolf thought. But now, his silence was disturbing.

 

Before he could question the wolf, he nudged Conri and aided the man’s hearing. Distantly, they heard a car pull up to the curb, and the soft voice of Luna speaking to the driver.

 

Conri wasted no time in throwing on his spare clothes and disappearing into his own room, diving under the covers and turning so that his back was to the door. Normally he preferred to sleep facing the entrance to his room, a way to better see who came into his space. But now, all he wanted to do was hide himself from the world, and from his sister most of all.

 

He heard Luna’s footsteps as she came down the long hallway, stopping in front of their apartment and unlocking the door. She was humming as she shrugged off her jacket and tossed her keys onto the counter top, her contentment making Conri feel nauseous all over again. Her footsteps then came closer, stopping in front of Conri’s door. There was a silence, then her steps retreated back to her own room, the door closing with a soft click.

 

Conri let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He turned onto his back and glared at the ceiling. Over and over again he replayed the images of what he had done, unable to stop himself from doing so. And with each play, he could feel that dormant part of him stir with glee, and he in turn would feel disgusted and remorseful. His shadow self only looked on as the man tortured himself, staying silent as the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, your patience and support mean everything to me!


	14. Corruption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No I have not been without internet for over a month. Other things came up and had to be dealt with. But I have returned and we can get back to the story! Thank you all once more for your patience. Now, let's get on with the update!

Corruption

 

Conri had barely gotten any sleep. When he did manage to fall asleep, his mind was plagued with nightmares of himself as a monster, tearing apart innocent people with a relentless blood-lust. When one dream had him lunging toward his own sister, maw opened wide and teeth glinting, Conri forced himself awake and refused to sleep any longer.

            

He had resolved to stay in his room that day, not wanting to face the sweet happiness of his sister. He still felt dirty, and he was sure her sharp eyes would notice it. So when Conri heard Luna get up and move toward the kitchenette to make her breakfast, Conri wrapped himself further in his blankets and prayed to any and all deities that she would leave him alone today.

            

It was a foolish hope from the beginning.

            

“Conri?” Luna called down the hall. Conri squinted his eyes shut and willed her to go away.

            

“Conri, are you still asleep?” Luna’s voice was much closer now, and judging by her tone she was getting ready to barge in.

            

“Luna, I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night so I’m just going to lie in,” Conri called back.

            

“Okay…” Luna’s voice sounded doubtful, and Conri mentally cursed himself for not being able to come up with a better excuse. “Well, how’d it go with your interview?”

            

_Shit_ , Conri thought to himself. His interview was not something he wanted to discuss with her, especially now. Truth be told, any hopes of getting the job, dim as they were, had completely flown from his mind with everything else that had happened.

            

“Don’t worry about it, just get to your job,” Conri replied tersely.

            

He heard Luna heave a sigh and retreat back down the short hallway. Conri let out a small breath, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly. He really wanted to sleep, but the threat of his nightmares made him stay awake. While he knew he deserved having those terrifying images burned into his mind, he just couldn’t bring himself to face them.

            

For the rest of the morning Conri laid there, nearly falling asleep several times but always snapping back awake at the last moment. It was maddening to stay in bed and do nothing, but he refused to show his face. Dimly, he knew he’d have to confront what had happened and make a new plan; it seemed that Lycus had been several steps ahead of him this whole time, and if he wanted to get out of the city he needed his wits about him. However, Conri couldn’t bring himself to leave the safety of his nest of blankets.

            

By afternoon, though, his shadow self had had enough. Taking over a portion of their shared body, the wolf’s spirit dragged the young man out of bed and out of his room. He only relinquished control once they were in the kitchenette, giving Conri a single thread of feeling; hunger.

            

The young man sighed and relented to his animal companion. Truth be told, he actually was very hungry. After rummaging through their cupboards he ended up settling on eggs and toast. Sated, Conri was beginning to feel much more like himself, though the heavy weight of guilt still pressed down upon him. He heaved a sigh and finally turned his full attention to his inner wolf.

            

_What happened to us?_ he asked the beast. _Why did we become so…sinister?_

            

But for once, his shadow self gave no answer. No feelings, no images; nothing. He merely gazed at Conri with something akin to sadness in his eyes.

            

Conri let out a huff of frustration and tore himself away from the wolf. He stomped off to his room, grabbing his spare jacket and looked around for his keys. He was in no mood to stay around the apartment, despite his reluctance to enter the outside world. All he knew was that he needed to go somewhere, anywhere. After fifteen minutes of searching, however, he came up with nothing. Conri stood in the middle of his living room, brow furrowed in concentration; where had he left his keys?

            

His shadow self provided the answer, impressing upon his mind the image of him tearing out of his human form, clothes shredded and the keys to the apartment falling onto the ground, forgotten.

            

“You give me an answer for that but not for why it happened in the first place?!” Conri demanded, his voice too loud for being alone. He winced at the volume and forced himself to lower his tone. “Fucking perfect…now I have to go back to that shit scene.”

            

Again, his inner wolf gave remained silent, only continuing with his perpetual staring. Conri let out a snarl of anger and stalked out of the apartment.

            

If anyone thought his rampage through the streets were odd, they dared not to say a word. Conri barely noticed that the few people he did pass gave him a wide berth, his anger as transparent as if there was a window into his mind, and none of them wanted to be at the brunt of his frustration.

            

His temper carried him quickly through the streets until he came close to the alleyway where he had lost control. Here, Conri finally slowed his steps, coming to a complete halt several feet away from the opening. Hesitation crept into his mind; he didn’t want to face the grisly scene he had caused. The sight had been haunting his dreams all night; to refresh his memory would be far worse in the daylight. But it had to be done. He knew it. So, with a squaring of his shoulders, Conri steeled himself forward, ready for the onslaught of decay.

            

But when he turned the corner, the alleyway was clean of any dismembered parts and blood. Nothing was left, no evidence of his gravest mistake. It looked as any other alleyway did, littered with all manner of filth and trash. But nothing more. Conri furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, stepping farther into the alleyway. His nostrils were flared, trying to drink in some faint scent of blood. But it was completely gone.

            

Conri stood in the middle of the narrow space, wondering what had happened. He couldn’t have the wrong alleyway; the scenery was too familiar. With one last breath he inhaled deeply, taking in every scent he could detect. His shadow self gave a low growl as a smell suddenly came to him, very faint but still lingering. Conri stiffened, fear racing through his blood and making his heart beat faster. There was no mistaking that musk; the pack had been here, and they had cleaned up his mess.

            

_But…why?_ Conri wondered, scanning the ground in confusion. Why would the gang want to help him? After everything they had done to make his life a living hell, it didn't make sense that they would actually bail him out of this mess.

            

His inner wolf directed his attention to the back area of the alleyway. Conri looked around and saw something laying among the trash that littered the ground. He edged closer, the bit of paper too white and clean to have been there for long. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands. On the back was written one word: _Congratulations_.

            

His keys were nowhere to be found.

 

\- - -

 

Conri’s walk back to his apartment was significantly slower than before. He was scared, unable to predict what the pack was planning. Each theory was more horrible than the last until Conri was practically hyperventilating at the ideas that ran in circles around his mind. Whatever their plans were, he could clearly see what their ultimate goal was; getting him to submit to the alpha and join the pack. This game of theirs had become a double edged sword; no matter what Conri did, someone somewhere would get hurt. He only prayed that Luna would still be safe when all was said and done.

            

Conri scowled as he stalked around the side of his building, climbing along the fire escape until he came to the ledge that wrapped around to his window. He edged along until he was able to slip inside his room, straightening up with a sigh.

            

Difficult though it was, he had to admit there was little for him to be able to do now. Slowly but surely, he was being herded into a tight corner from which there would be no escape. It made Conri snarl with anger, his newly awakened blood-lust rising eagerly. With a shake of his head, he stamped down on the impulse fiercely. He would not become that monster. He could not.

            

_Maybe some TV will distract me_ , Conri thought to himself. It was a small hope, but a hope nonetheless. He made his way to the old couch and plopped himself down, grabbing the remote and flicking through the channels. Despite this free service their oh-so generous landlord provided all the tenants, there were very few channels worth watching. However, Conri could hardly complain, being the housebound individual he was.

            

He stopped his search on the news channel, deciding to see if there was anything interesting going on today.

            

“And now we turn back to our top news story, where police are once again urging the city to remain alert for a possible serial killer who has been linked to the deaths of the family found the other day by the abandoned nuclear power plant, and just this morning the dismembered remains of an unidentified Caucasian male found in the same place.”

            

Conri sat up straighter, the remote falling from his slackened grip.

            

The newscaster continued. “A witness has come forward in regards to the case of the unidentified male and reports seeing a young adult male, also Caucasian, scattering the remains around the abandoned site. Police are on the lookout and urge citizens to come forward with any other information that could prove helpful to this case, and to remain vigilant, for the suspect is considered highly dangerous.

            

“Now moving on to the weather-”

            

Conri shut the TV off then, unable to watch any more. He slumped back against the couch, his mind reeling. So much for the bailing out theory. What exactly was Lycus playing at? His shadow self growled defiantly, bowling over the man’s mind with his anger. The blood-lust soon followed, urging the young man to stand up and head out, to find his prey and tear them apart-

            

“ _No_!” Conri yelled aloud, gripping his hair tightly. He shot up from the couch and started prowling around the small space like a caged animal.

            

“What the hell is happening to me?” he despaired, his voice barely above a whisper. He looked inward at his shadow self, who whined quietly. It seemed the wolf was also distressed by this new behavior. Neither of them were safe from the poison that had entered their blood.

            

At that moment the phone rang, startling Conri from his musings. He hesitated, wanting to simply let the machine take the message. _But what if it’s Luna?_ he couldn’t help but worry. With a grimace, Conri walked over and picked up the receiver.

            

“Hello?”

            

“Mr. Kinsley, it’s Officer Richards.”

            

Conri sucked in a breath, his temper flaring slightly before he managed to stamp it down. “What can I do for you, sir?” he asked tersely.

            

“I’d like you to come down to the station and answer a few questions for us,” he replied.

            

“Questions about what?” Conri’s heart was hammering against his chest, threatening to burst straight through his ribcage.

            

“I think it’d be better to discuss this in person, Mr. Kinsley. Will you come down to the station?”

            

Conri pulled the receiver away from his ear for a moment, running a hand over his face. He needed to pull himself together. He needed his wits about him so he could formulate a solid plan. And maybe, at the very least, if he did go down to the station he could acquire more information about what Lycus was doing.

            

“Okay, I’ll be there within an hour,” Conri said tersely.


	15. Facade

Facade

 

During his ride into downtown, Conri forced every fiber of his being to school his face into a mask of cool indifference. Whatever this game was, he couldn’t afford to waver even for a second. Now was the time to shove all fear and guilt aside. Planning on the run was something he was familiar with, but the stakes had never been higher than they were now. And even though outwardly anyone would have assumed he was merely bored, inside his heart was racing a mile a minute, his limbs jittery with live wire nerves.

           

The cab soon pulled up to the curb outside the station. Conri paid his fare, exiting the car and pausing on the sidewalk for a moment to be sure his emotions were in check. His shadow self stirred, taking in all the sights and smells and sounds. Neither acknowledged the other as Conri heaved in a breath and stepped into the police station.

           

As soon as he passed through the doors he had to stop, baffled by the sheer number of people in the lobby. They were all crowded around the front desk, badgering the receptionists as they tried to answer phones at the same time. The noise level was nearly deafening, and virtually every visitor had the same expression of fear in their eyes. Conri fought the urge to roll his eyes; people died every day in Aevum City, but as soon as the news focused on a few specific deaths, everyone decides to panic.

           

Conri edged his way through the mass of bodies, looking for the hallway where he had had his first interrogation. It was difficult to squeeze between everyone that was jostling for the attention of the receptionists, but eventually he managed to stumble out of the crowd and into the blissfully emptier corridor. At the far end stood Officer Richards talking with another policeman. Conri debated with himself, wondering if he should approach the man or stay where he was.

           

Before he could come to a decision, Officer Richards spotted him and waved him forward. With trepidation, Conri strode down the hallway. As he approached the two uniformed men, one door swung open, nearly colliding with Conri’s face. He stepped back and to the side, allowing the two men to leave. One was about Conri’s age, with a seemingly bored expression. He only glanced at Conri for a brief moment, but even he couldn’t miss the sneer that lit up the other youth’s face. His shadow self bared his teeth as Conri shook his head and continued down the hallway.

           

“Mr. Kinsley, I'm glad you made it,” Officer Richards greeted as Conri approached.

           

“Anything I can do to help, sir,” Conri replied with stiff formality. The older man seemed not to notice as he waved goodbye to his fellow officer and led Conri into the interrogation room.

           

_Wonder how many more times I’ll be here_ , Conri thought bitterly as he took his seat at the table while Officer Richards put on the act of shuffling his papers. Shortly after he took his seat across from Conri and gazed steadily at the younger man.

           

_We’re not seriously doing this again, are we?_ Conri grumbled in irritation as the officer continued with his staring contest. His inner wolf nudged him, sending the same message as he had the first time they were in this situation, but this time Conri was having none of it.

           

_Back off, this doesn’t concern you!_ Conri snapped at his shadow self. The creature recoiled as if struck, slipping away into the darkest corners of the young man’s spirit. Later, Conri would feel guilty. But right now, he had to get Lycus' pet off of his back.

           

“With all due respect, sir, I thought you called me over here for a reason,” Conri said sourly to the older man, snapping him out of his routine. Instead of looking annoyed, however, Officer Richards seemed pleased by his impatience.

           

“Of course, Mr. Kinsley. I’m sure you’ve heard of the recent deaths in our city?”

           

“Yes.”

           

The officer nodded to himself. “Yes, quite a tragedy. But with the help of our witness, we have been investigating all Caucasian men between the ages of twenty and thirty with prior criminal records.”

           

Conri blinked at that. “I only stole some clothes. You really think I’d kill a whole family?”

           

“And an unidentified man,” Officer Richards added, seeming even more pleased by Conri s reactions. He cursed himself inwardly; he was being too giving. He needed to reign himself in.

           

“What difference do these deaths make from the dozens of others that happen in this city on a daily basis?” Conri asked tersely.

           

“That is police business. We have our reasons to investigate these deaths in particular.”

           

Conri snorted in disbelief but said nothing more. He watched as the police officer shuffled through his papers, putting on his act once again. It annoyed the younger man, but he forced the feeling away to the back of his mind. It seemed that spot was fast becoming full as of late.

           

After a few moments, Officer Richards pushed a piece of paper toward Conri along with a pen. “I’ll need you to write down a statement of where you were during the times of both incidents. We’ll be collaborating with family members and neighbors to be sure these stories check out.”

           

Conri stared down at the blank paper, his blood boiling dangerously. He could easily wave off the family’s death, that was no trouble. But the man’s death was another matter entirely.

           

His shadow self lunged forward at that moment, taking control of Conri’s hands. The animal took hold of the pen and poised it over the paper, impressing upon the man the need for subtlety. With that the wolf retreated, leaving Conri’s hands free to his control once more. For a moment he could only sit there, dumbstruck. Then, as if the creature still controlled his movements, Conri began to write out his statement. When he pushed the paper back toward the officer, he had only filled a quarter of the sheet. The older man raised an eyebrow at his short sentences, but said nothing as he filed it away with the other papers in front of him.

           

“We’ll call you in again if something doesn’t add up, Mr. Kinsley,” Officer Richards remarked with a warning tone, standing up from the table.

           

“Yes, sir,” Conri replied, rising to his feet as well.

           

He allowed himself to be escorted back to the main lobby, which was still as packed as it had been when Conri first arrived. Officer Richards left him at the edge of the crowd, disappearing along another hallway. Conri heaved a sigh and made his way through the mass of bodies once again, eager to leave the station behind.

           

He had never been so grateful for the city air. Once Conri had exited the police building he stood on the sidewalk, appearing to be looking around at the passing cars and people. But in reality, he was on high alert. Try as he might, though, Conri could detect none of the pack members in the nearby vicinity. He sighed and, with nothing else to do, he took off down the street.

           

Conri navigated the maze of traffic, both pedestrian and vehicle, with little effort. By now, though, his exhaustion was catching up to him. More and more Conri yawned as he walked, daydreaming of his bed. Maybe now that he was this tired he would have a dreamless sleep. It was something to hope for, at the very least. He needed his rest in order to have his mind sharp and senses ready if he wanted to make it out of this mess in one piece.

           

He made the transition into his neighborhood, quickening his steps; the sooner he got to his apartment the sooner he could sleep. Before Conri could turn onto his street, however, a brief gust of wind brought the tangy musk of the pack to his nose. He stopped in his tracks, both his and his shadow self’s hackles rising in defiance. Conri clenched his jaw and turned around to face the gang that had situated themselves at the end of the road.

           

“Conri! My dear boy,” Lycus greeted with a feral grin, “I must admit I was beginning to doubt your resolve. But my oh my, what a spectacle you left for us last night.”

           

Conri sneered, but said nothing. The pack was advancing upon him, Lycus leading the way. It would be suicide at this point to say something snarky, he knew.

           

“But,” Lycus continued when he was mere feet away from Conri, “your aftercare was rather sloppy. Leaving all that meat and flesh to go to waste. I know you never had a mother, but surely your caretakers taught you to clean your plate?”

           

“…You think I’d actually _eat_ another human being?” Conri couldn’t help but demand in horror.

           

That was the wrong thing to say. Lycus’ grin only grew more sinister, and the rest of his pack backed away slightly from the fury rolling off of their alpha.

           

“And there you go again. Counting yourself among the sheep. You’ve only got a few more weeks, Conri, to decide where your loyalties lie. I’ll warn you once more, and not again, that I will not tolerate a pathetic excuse for a wolf prancing around with those mindless drones. Your place is to rule over them, and if you cannot accept that then you are a liability that will be dealt with. In the most heinous way possible.” Lycus reached into his pocket and drew out a key. “I do believe this belongs to you, yes?”

           

Conri stared at the glistening object, his shadow self practically shoving caution down his throat. “Why do you have that?” he asked hesitantly.

           

Lycus chuckled. “To teach you a lesson. Maybe now you’ll take my offer a little more seriously.” He tossed the key back to Conri. When the younger man looked up, the pack was already moving swiftly away. Lycus turned back once to smirk at Conri before turning away and melting into the shadows.

           

Conri stared at the key in bewilderment. It was the same as ever, just as he remembered it. But still, the weight of apprehension settled uncomfortably into his stomach. Both he and his inner wolf feared to wonder what lesson Lycus had in mind when he stole Conri’s key.


	16. Savage

Savage

 

The pack was separating for the night, going to their assigned patrol areas to survey their territory. Lycus watched them melt into the darkness with a self assured smile upon his face. From his vantage point he had an excellent view of their new den, as well as the city lights that glimmered dully a short distance away.

           

Their move had been an impulsive decision on his part. Previously, they had been shacked up in a comfy penthouse in the wealthier part of the city, the entire building theirs to do as they please. And it had been a very swanky place to live; there was no shortage of alcohol stored in the many mini bars in each room, pool and gambling galore, and plenty of servants to do their bidding and attend to their desires. So it was understandable that there was a lot of grumbling amongst the pack when Lycus had announced they were moving their den. But a swift growl and a piercing glare from their alpha silenced their complaints, even when they entered the decidedly less than adequate location of their new den.

           

Lycus breathed in deeply, savoring the stench of decay that surrounded their new home. It was a calming aroma, the assurance he needed from time to time that all was well within his world. Alone of the rest of the pack, he had never felt very comfortable with the high class home they had been living in previously. It reminded him far too much of the stuck-up sheep that had resided there and in all the surrounding buildings of that neighborhood. Here, however, he felt far more at home, and he was free to properly ponder upon the problem that had been plaguing him the last few weeks.

           

A slight growl leaked from his lips as his thoughts turned to the stray. Lycus almost couldn’t believe his eyes the first time he officially met him. It was like looking far into the past at a face he had loathed with every ounce of his being. He had been leery of the young pup, unsure of where his loyalties lay but it had become apparent quickly that the stray held no such inclinations either way. That was what spurred Lycus to grant him the choice of either joining his pack or suffering a slow and agonizing fate.

           

Normally his decisions were not met with much hindrance; his boys knew better than to question their alpha. But in this, nearly all of them erupted in outrage. None of them wanted the scrawny runt to join their forces. They wanted to tear the pup apart and exact their revenge all over again. Lycus had had to deal out several beatings to force his pack back into submission. He was their leader, and his word was law. They had no business questioning his motives.

           

But even Lycus had to admit to himself that perhaps he had overestimated the stray. The pup seemed hellbent on defying Lycus’ offer, continuing with his excursions out among the sheep and blending in with their dull visages, soaking up their stomach-churning stink and masking the true scent that marked him as one of them. So, Lycus cut off that particular route, assuring the young man that if he continued with such a stupid course of action then death would befall him. The added threat to his sister seemed to be effective, for his boys had reported back nightly stating that he had not been seen lurking amongst the mindless drones since that warning.

           

And then came the sweet revelation. It had caught all of them off guard to hear such a proud howl piercing the night. Lycus had had to grin before shifting into his wolf’s skin to answer the stray’s howl, several members of his pack joining in with the celebration as well. Predictably, the young pup’s call cut off abruptly. Lycus then had quickly taken off with several other wolves toward the direction they had heard the howl coming from. Of course, the stray was nowhere to be seen once they arrived at the alleyway, but it didn’t matter to Lycus. The sight of the dismantled sheep before him was more than satisfying enough. In his elated state he allowed his brothers to feast upon the remains, though he enforced the need to save the larger bits. He had a plan swiftly formulating within his mind, and while the others licked up the spilled guts and blood he spotted the ace he had been searching for.

           

The key seemed so lonely, glinting dully amongst the carnage and torn clothes. Shifting back to his human form, Lycus had picked up the key, turning it over in his hand thoughtfully.

           

Later, the remains had been placed within the Shells, around the same place that foolish family had been cornered and dealt with. Lycus still sneered at the thought of those idiots. They weren’t the first ones to try and sneak away without him noticing. And to his utter disgust there had been a few that made it out before he could put them in their place. Luckily, it had been several years since the last stray sheep escaped, back when he had first taken over the pack and was still honing his skills. After that, he made damn sure to plug up any and all holes in his territory before any others could sneak away.

           

Though that family had come entirely too close for his liking.

           

Once the evidence had been planted, the call had been placed to the police department informing them of the murders and the who the suspect might be. Lycus could practically hear the smirk in Officer Richards’ voice as he assured the alpha he would take care of everything. It never failed to amuse Lycus to hear the cocky tone in the man’s voice, even while he prostrated himself in the alpha’s presence. There was no doubt that the officer believed he held some special favor with Lycus, and the day would come when the alpha would gleefully prove the stupid sheep’s assumptions were tragically wrong. He was a tool, nothing more. And when that day came that he finally lived out his usefulness the man would make a fine meal for his pack.

           

Lycus paced along the rooftop of where he had been standing, ignoring the gaze of his faithful second-in-command. He had ordered Varg to stay with him, an unusual request since Lycus relied on Varg’s bloodlust with certain areas that he deemed to be too lively for his liking. But tonight he needed his services for a special task.

           

“We’ve already told off that stiff suit, the pup’s not going to be able to hide out with those sheep,” Varg spoke into the silence gruffly. Lycus rolled his eyes; sometimes he seriously questioned the man’s intelligence. He was almost as stupid as Faolan at times, and that was saying something.

           

“I’ve already told you, Varg, he will be going back there regardless of whether he is welcome or not. He is desperate, and desperation makes one sloppy,” Lycus reminded the burly shadow.

           

“I don’t think we should trust him…” Lycus heard Varg mutter under his breath. A low growl had him uttering a hurried “Sorry, alpha,” and Lycus knew without turning around that Varg had dropped to his knees in submission.

           

“After all these years, do you really think I would throw away all sense of caution?” Lycus asked quietly.

           

“Of course not! But…he is his offspring. He has the same weakness in his veins,” Varg responded bitterly.

           

“But he is not beyond hope. We found that out for ourselves. He just needs a nudge in the right direction, an assurance that we’re here for him, that we’ll help him accept the wolf that he is. He’ll fall in line.”

           

Lycus heard Varg chuckle, already knowing what the alpha’s final course of action would be, the move that would call checkmate in this game of wills. A small frown etched itself onto his face then as his thoughts turned to the old cat from the forest. He knew he had tracked the pup down and taken him aside, but what had been said he could not be sure. Admittedly, it made him uneasy, but Lycus refused to waste precious time worrying about it; the bastard knew better than to traipse back into his territory again so soon. But he was going soft. Lycus knew it would only be a matter of time before he caved in, coming back for the pup in an attempt to bring him to their side. Only by the time that would happen, Lycus had every confidence that the pup would be one of the pack.

           

“Come,” Lycus commanded Varg, swiftly dropping from his post and scurrying down the length of the building he had been pacing upon. Both he and Varg were nearly silent as they landed on the ground, shifting into their wolf skins to run flat out toward the main city.

           

As they ran Lycus allowed his bloodlust to rise, to take over his mind and limbs. He flung his head back and drank in the cool air deeply, a myriad of scents sifting through his nose until he found the thread that belonged to the one prey he was most interested in. With a feral snarl Lycus picked up the pace, leaping over the garbage strewn throughout the streets. The thrill of the hunt raced through his blood, kicking his instincts into high gear. Nothing could distract this wolf from his kill.

           

Except for another scent that drifted toward him upon the wind.

           

Lycus halted his run, stopping dead in the middle of the street. Beside him, Varg’s velocity carried him past his alpha before he managed to stumble to a halt. He paced back to his leader, whose head was raised high to face the slight breeze, anger rolling off him in waves.

           

_What is it, alpha?_ Varg asked.

           

_Lions_ , Lycus replied curtly.

           

Varg growled low in his throat, reddish hackles rising up impressively. _So, what do we do?_

           

Lycus pondered that, lashing his ears back and forth in annoyance. It didn’t seem as the if the whole pride was near the city, but even so he could hardly tolerate even one mangy cat lurking this close to their borders. But there was still the matter of his other prey, and time was slipping quickly away with each second that passed.

           

_Go to the lions. I will handle the prey myself_ , Lycus ordered his second-in-command, trotting away as he spoke.

           

Varg whined low in his throat, unhappy with his alpha’s decision. _What about what happened last time? What then, alpha?_

           

Lycus turned back to the other wolf, glancing at his blind eye with amusement. _You’ve already survived their attacks once. You can do it again. Now go!_

           

Varg huffed but reluctantly complied, his wolfish form melting away into the shadows. Lycus let out a growl of disgust before he continued on his own path. He lifted his head to the air again, seeking out the scent he had been tracking. Once it filled his nose and spiked his bloodlust, he took off at a run.

           

In no time at all, Lycus was crouching down at the corner of one street, watching with sharp eyes for his prey to appear. He saw a sliver of movement, and soon a figure came into view under the street light. They were whistling an idle tune, completely content and unaware that they were being watched by a deadly predator. The man’s behavior both amused and irritated the alpha; most of the sheep in this damned city scampered along the darkened streets in fear of what lay in the shadows.

           

Lycus grinned, his wolf lips curled back to show sharp fangs; he would show this old fool why he should be afraid of the dark. He would show him what happens to foolish sheep who think they can be the savior of the flock. He slunk away from the shadows, belly low to the ground, picking up the pace until he was nearly running flat-out on silent paws. His prey barely had a moment to turn in surprise, but it was already too late. Lycus snarled and lunged into the air, his bloodlust demanding to be sated as he attacked this lone, stupid sheep.

           

With a tight grip around his throat, Lycus brought the man crashing to the ground. He struggled. He could feel the muscles in his neck straining, trying to release some sort of sound beyond the gurgling he was managing. But Lycus tightened his grip, cutting him off harshly before dragging him away. After several yards, he dropped his prey halfway down a bare side street, pacing around until he was at the man’s feet. Lycus snapped his jaws around one ankle, jerking his head around until he felt the bones crack. The stupid sheep let out a strangled yell, his throat too damaged to make a louder noise. Lycus ignored him, giving the same treatment to his other ankle before moving up his body, snarling quietly as he nosed the man’s soft belly.

           

Lycus grinned, his furred lips pulled back over sharp teeth as he breathed in the stink of fear that was rolling off of his prey in glorious waves. He savored the scent, soaking it in before he lunged forward, his fangs piercing through clothing and popping the skin that held his organs in. He dug through the mess of blood and guts, making sure to spill as much as he could without actually killing the poor sheep. He needed him to stick around, at least until the pup found him.

           

Once he was satisfied with his work Lycus stepped back, licking his jaws with relish before shifting back into his human skin.

           

“Well, well. John Malcolm.” Lycus shook his head with a laugh, licking the blood of his fingers as he walked forward, kneeling down so he could get a good look at his prey’s face. “A resourceful little sheep, aren’t we? And clever, too. I’m not so proud that I can’t admit to that.”

           

John Malcolm looked up at Lycus blearily, shock dampening the majority of his senses. “...T-took…you…long enough…”

           

“Would you like to know what your grievous mistake was?” Lycus asked pleasantly, smiling at the dying man. “You decided to use a rat as your front man. Stupid, Mr. Malcolm. Rats have no pride, no shame. They’ll fold under any sort of pressure that comes their way.”

           

“You…killed…m-my last…guy…” John whispered weakly, choking on the blood that was bubbling up his throat.

           

“And the pack’s soon-to-be recruit killed this one,” Lycus sniffed, straightening up to his full height. “And now you are dying for what? For the freedom of all these sheep?” He barked out a laugh. “Sheep don’t deserve freedom. They’re too weak to understand what it truly means.”

           

“…Go…to hell…” John spat with as much venom as he could. His words only served to make Lycus laugh again.

           

“Give my regards to Conri when you see him,” he said, turning to walk down the empty street. “He’ll be coming to look for you any minute now.”

           

Lycus turned a corner, whistling an idle tune to himself as he left the man to suffer alone.


	17. Tampered

Tampered

 

Conri heaved a sigh, glancing out the window as night slowly fell. John Malcolm should be on his way to work by now, which meant it was time for Conri to get a move on.

           

At least, he would have been able to leave if his sister wasn’t being unusually clingy this evening.

           

As soon as she had arrived back at the apartment, Conri had questioned why she was home so soon. Luna announced that she wanted to spend some quality time with her brother. Conri had been perplexed at first, until after a few dirty looks Luna had shot at him as they ate dinner. He suppressed the urge to scowl as he thought back to his interrogation with Officer Richards.

           

“What did he ask you?” Conri questioned his sister after dinner.

           

“Who?” Luna shot back, plopping down onto the couch and folding herself up like a sheet of origami paper. Not for the first time Conri was more amused than intimidated by his sister’s annoyance, but he wisely did not let it show.

           

“Come on, Luna, I really don’t have time for this game-”

           

“Why, planning on going out and being accused of murder again?” The icy stare that Luna shot him could have frozen fire. Even Conri’s shadow self felt a little intimidated.

           

“Luna, I’m not the only one they interrogated. Anyone with a prior record is being called in,” Conri tried to reason. His sister did not look appeased, so with a sigh he joined her on the couch.

           

“I’m not going anywhere, if that’s what you’re worried about. I mean, I know my record isn’t the best and it’s not been easy for us-”

           

“What ‘ _us_ ’?! There is no, ‘us’, Conri! It’s always me, _alone_!” Luna interrupted angrily. “You have no idea what it’s been like for me to just watch you slip away and put yourself in danger! Every single day! And even now, when you’ve got the full attention of that fucking gang, along with the police, you _still_ don’t care!”

           

Luna scooted as far away from her brother as possible, angling her body so that her back was facing him. Conri stared blankly at his little sister’s stiff posture, trying to find the words that would appease her. He opened and closed his mouth several times before sighing in defeat.

           

“I’m sorry, Luna. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s all I got right now. Please, believe me when I say that I am trying to make things better for us both. I’m not going to leave you in this world alone. I promise.”

           

Luna spared Conri a fierce glare before snorting in disbelief and leaping up from the couch, storming away until she disappeared into her room and slammed the door with a wall rattling bang.

           

Conri sat there in silence for a few minutes, guilt and irritation permeating his thoughts until his inner wolf gave him an insistent nudge. With much trepidation, he got up from the couch and grabbed his jacket from its place by the door, slipping out of the apartment.

           

It was a quiet night, the tang of winter laying heavy upon the air. It wouldn’t be long before the first snows fell. While Conri enjoyed this season, he felt a weight settle into his stomach at the thought of what would become of him and his sister in the coming weeks, or even months. The possibilities did not bode well.

           

His shadow self remained silent but alert as they walked along the darkened streets. There was no scent among the breeze that indicated that the pack was anywhere nearby, but even so Conri was on edge. He kept going over his plan in his mind, all the while terrified that he would end up losing control again.

           

Even as he thought about it, that new, traitorous part of their bond poked its head up hopefully. Conri could practically feel the poisonous effects already, edging into his arms and legs, filling his senses so that he was drinking in the air, turning his head this way and that, always on the search for fresh, plump flesh-

           

“Damn it!” Conri swore aloud, stopping in his tracks and gripping his hair tightly. With all the willpower he possessed, he shoved the bloodlust away and fought to keep it locked away. It was a foolish hope, but that was exactly what Conri needed right now.

           

His shadow self watched the man’s struggles passively, waiting until Conri had calmed down enough before nudging him back into action, impressing upon him the feeling of urgency. Conri heaved a sigh and forced himself back into a brisk walk.

           

The streets were completely empty by the time he made it into downtown. That was hardly a surprise, and while Conri would have found it easier to blend in with the crowds he was grateful that no one else was around on this particular night. He was on edge enough as it was, and he didn’t want to risk more peoples' lives if he couldn’t control himself. The very thought made him shiver in fear and he very nearly turned back around to go home. But he forced his feet to keep moving forward.

           

A few more corners and Conri was walking down the street that housed the office building he was searching for. He had only gone a couple of feet along the road before the wind shifted and a stark scent hit his nose. His inner wolf snarled, hackles raised. Conri felt the hairs on his own neck stand up, both in fear and excitement.

           

Without another thought he ran the rest of the way down the road, following the scent to a narrow side street across from where the darkened office building sat. Conri stalled then, hesitant to be so close to the source. He was debating whether he should just leave well enough alone when a faint groan reached his ears.

           

Conri stilled, edging away and then stepping forward again. Another moan, and he was moving farther into the side street, which resembled a spacious alleyway more than anything else. It was dark here, and he could barely see a thing. Conri was forced to use his sense of smell to help guide him, but even if he had lacked the inner wolf he would have been sucker punched by the stench of bruised organs. He had to wonder how anyone could still be alive with that much blood loss.

           

Finally, he was stopped in front of the mangled source as they lay beside several garbage cans and felt himself shiver in revulsion. Even his shadow self was deeply disturbed by the sight that lay before them.

           

He was an older man, probably in his late fifties at least. What Conri could see of his face had paled dangerously to the color of ash, and he was shaking from the loss of blood that was currently pooling around him steadily. With an effort Conri wouldn’t have believed he had, the man lifted his eyes to his, staring steadily with teary, bloodshot eyes.

           

“…It’s…you…” he barely whispered. Conri furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, hesitant to get closer to the man out of fear of himself.

           

“Do I know you?” Conri asked, standing awkwardly as he watched the man before him dying slowly.

           

“No…son…” He coughed, more blood spraying from his mouth. “…But…he said…y-you would…come…” The more he spoke the paler he became, his eyes sliding in and out of focus.

           

Conri’s shadow self urged the man forward, kneeling them down in front of the poor soul. The smell was overwhelming Conri’s senses, and he was fighting an internal battle to not let the bloodlust come to the forefront of his mind.

           

“Who are you?” Conri asked.

           

“…J-John…Mal-Mal…”

           

Conri blinked in shock before his eyes narrowed into angry slits. “…John Malcolm?” he supplied, his voice barely above a strained whisper. The man managed the barest of nods, eyes shut against the pain. Conri gave a low snarl; he was being blocked at every turn, and it was royally pissing him off. His anger served to fuel his bloodlust, bringing it to the forefront of his mind as his shadow self whined in protest. Before he could register the action, Conri had his hands gripped around the dying man’s battered throat, making him struggle weakly.

           

“It was Lycus, wasn’t it?” he demanded angrily. Inside, his shadow self paced nervously, his hackles raised and his head down.

           

“…Con-Conri…can’t…follow…hell hounds…le-leave…go…now!” John sputtered as his remaining strength drained quickly under Conri’s hands.

           

Just as quickly as his rage had come upon him it faded, and Conri was left feeling sick with disgust at himself. He immediately released John and scooted away from him, acutely aware of the man’s blood on his hands.

           

“I-I’m sorry-” Conri tried to say but was stopped by John’s hand gripping his arm with surprising strength. He looked up and saw the man’s eyes were bright with manic energy.

           

"Go, boy! Go and get out of this hellhole! My apartment…fifty-six...Fowler Street…top floor...f-find it...the...the way out…g-go…”

           

The hand slid from Conri’s arm, leaving a streak of blood in its wake. John slumped back against the brick of the building he had been abandoned against, his eyes wide and staring. It took a few moments for Conri to register that he was truly dead. All he could do was sit and stare blankly at the man before him. His mind had come to screeching halt.

           

His shadow self suddenly snarled at the young man, taking over briefly to get him to his feet. Conri blinked in confusion until he heard the distant sirens coming toward them, and fast. With vile curses spouting from his mouth, Conri booked it down the street, his pace nimble and light.

           

He was several blocks away before he deemed it safe to stop for a breather. Conri hunched over, his hands on his knees as he tried to wrestle his thoughts into order. He was sick of this game Lycus and his cronies were playing. Sooner or later they would drop all pretense and come for him directly, just as they had before. And this time, he wouldn’t be able to get away from them.

           

Conri shook his head and straightened up, thinking back to John Malcolm’s final words. He had no idea what exactly it was at the man’s apartment that he wanted Conri to find, but he knew it would be foolish not to follow the lead. With a rueful glance down at his bloody hands and the generous spatter that had gotten onto his clothing, he knew it would have to wait until tomorrow. It would be highly risky, but it would be even more so not to wait until things cooled down. With this new plan in mind, Conri made his way down the winding streets to his building, plagued by the lifeless, staring eyes of John Malcolm’s corpse

 

\- - -

 

Conri managed to slip into his apartment and into the bathroom without his sister being any the wiser. He knew she was still pissed off at him, so he made no effort to try and talk to her. At least not right then. Conri had other problems to deal with and as insensitive as he knew it was for Luna, she would just have to stew in her righteous anger for the time being.

           

He took a scalding hot shower, scrubbing away all traces of the John’s blood from his person. He had debated whether he should try washing his clothes or just trash them. If he had had a better selection of clothing to choose from Conri would have done away with them without a second thought. As it was, he was scraping the bottom of the barrel for outfits, so after his shower and a quick change into his remaining wardrobe, Conri stepped back into the bathroom to give his bloodied clothes a good scrubbing as well.

           

After about half an hour of washing and getting himself wet all over again, Conri heaved a sigh at the state of his clothes. The stains had faded, but he could still see them. With a shake of his head he hoped that a proper wash in the resident laundry room would help to do away with the remainder of the stains, but for the time being no one would be the wiser. As long as they didn’t look too closely.

           

Exhaustion was tugging at his eyes as Conri gave a huge yawn and stumbled back into his own room. He collapsed onto his bed gratefully, easing his way into what promised to be a long and restful sleep.

           

When he awoke hours later, however, he felt as he had barely gotten any sleep at all. Conri silently cursed the sunlight that was currently streaming through his window before rolling out of his bed, yawning so widely his jaw ached.

           

As he made his way out into the kitchenette, Conri spotted his sister sitting on the couch, watching the news. She made no acknowledgment of his presence whatsoever. Conri merely shrugged, figuring his sister needed more time to cool down. There had been many a day in the past when it would take Luna a week just to forgive her brother for whatever indiscretion he had committed.

           

Conri had fried up some eggs and was digging into them enthusiastically when his sister finally spoke.

           

“Did you go out last night?” she asked. Conri glanced up, but Luna was not looking in his direction.

           

“You going to stop talking to me again if I say yes?” Conri asked in return, his focus more on his food than on the fight his sister was probably looking for. He heard a heavy sigh, and when he looked up again Luna was finally facing in his direction. But instead of anger or even annoyance, he only saw worry.

           

“Conri, tell me the truth.”

           

Conri was about to open his mouth to speak when his shadow self stopped him. The wolf was peering at the man with wide eyes, almost similar to what his sister’s expression was. The beast gave no more hints beyond that, but it made Conri uneasy nonetheless. He focused his attention back to his sister.

           

“What happened?” he asked, dreading the answer.

           

Luna merely turned back to the TV, and Conri saw it was on the news channel. It only took a few moments for him to grasp that the breaking story of the day was the brutal death of John Malcolm. The newscaster was describing how police had managed to find stray evidence that did not belong to the victim, and they would be using the fibers and fingerprints they had lifted to help them hunt down the suspect. Conri edged his way closer to the TV, staring without really seeing the images on the screen.

           

“Tell me you didn’t go out again last night, Conri,” Luna implored after a few minutes of silence between the siblings, the only other noise being the newscaster on the TV.

           

“Luna…you don’t honestly believe I could do that, do you?” Conri asked. The glare that his sister shot at him told him that he couldn’t evade the issue so easily.

           

“That’s not the point, Conri! I _know_ you wouldn’t do something like that! But the police are already suspicious of you as it is, and you just keep running out into the night like nothing is wrong! No sane person in this city does that! Goddamn it, they’re going to need _someone_ to pin this on and you’re just making it far too easy for them! For once in your life act like the rest of us and stay inside!” Luna shot up from the couch and stalked past Conri, making a beeline for her room and slamming the door.

           

Conri let out a heavy breath and sank down onto the couch, staring at the TV screen. If Luna ever found out that he actually was responsible for the death of a man, she would never want to even look at him ever again. And he didn’t blame her.

           

He shook his head, running his hands through his hair. He needed to focus. While Conri would prefer to wait until nightfall to go to the apartment John had spoken of, something deep down in his soul told him that wasn’t a good idea. He needed to act. Now.

           

As Conri stood back up swiftly, gathering up his key and spare jacket, his shadow self nudged the man for his attention. With a repressed urge to roll his eyes, Conri shifted his focus inward, glaring at the beast within impatiently. _What do you want?_ he snapped.

           

For a moment the wolf did nothing, causing the young man’s irritation to flare up. Then, Conri was overwhelmed with a dark image. It was the two lights again, swirling around one another, bright and vivid. Then, one of the lights grew steadily darker, tainted in red that looked suspiciously like blood. This light became dimmer, but it grew bigger, consuming the other shining orb until it was no more. In the distance, Conri could hear the howls and moans of unearthly beasts, their cries becoming louder as the image became redder, making him feel as if he was drowning in their voices and their blood.

           

With a massive effort, Conri ripped his focus away from the image and his shadow self. He stood there in the middle of his apartment, shivering against a chill that wasn’t there. It took him several moments and a few deep breaths to get his composure back, all the while wondering what his wolf companion could have possibly meant by showing him such an image. The animal in question did nothing more than pace quietly within the dark recesses of his spirit. Conri shook his head wearily and shrugged his jacket on. He had more than enough on his plate to deal with right now if he was ever going to get his sister to safety.


	18. Evading

Evading

 

Even in the light of day the streets seemed bare of life. Conri knew this had a lot to do with the recent murders, even though that was hardly anything new. The key difference was only that the news was focusing on these particular deaths rather than all the others that had been happening countless times before. Yet again he was astounded by how easily shedding light on a few select horrors could make people panic while keeping the rest in the dark was perfectly fine and dandy.

           

The few people he did pass kept their heads down and didn’t stray from their paths. Conri frowned inwardly but didn’t focus too much on their behavior. After all, this was a rundown neighborhood; the façade of the buildings held little comfort to anyone who stood in their presence. But even as he crossed the invisible line between the affluent part of the city and the ne’er-do-well, he saw that there were fewer people here as well.

           

Conri’s shadow self tensed at this, rising up slightly to aid the man’s eyes, nose, and ears. Conri tensed as well, but more from the proximity of his animal companion rather than the less than crowded streets of downtown. With a gentle nudge, he pushed the wolf aside and continued along his path, hands stuffed into his pockets.

           

After a short while, Conri finally made it to Fowler Street. He paused at the intersection, looking down the quiet street that seemed to emit a feeling of quaint serenity. He felt a stab of envy against all the people that were privileged enough to live here.

           

With a shake of his head Conri walked along the road, gazing at the house numbers until he came to fifty-six. He stopped in his tracks and stared up at the tall building. All seemed quiet here, and Conri wondered if the police had already been by to inspect John Malcolm’s newly vacated apartment. He doubted they would have found much; his killer didn’t have any sort of connection to the man, aside from wanting to box Conri into his pack by taking the poor guy’s life.

           

Conri gave a low growl before he took off down the narrow pathway that sat between the buildings, looking around until he found the fire escape. With the ease of experience, Conri began to climb the rickety metal structure, dodging neatly between windows so as not to alert to tenants inside. Within minutes he had made it onto the last landing before he would be on the roof.

           

He peered into the slightly dirty glass, checking to make sure the hallway inside was clear. To him, it seemed as if the entire upper floor was abandoned; not a single light was on nor was there any noise coming from within. Conri chewed the inside of his cheek pensively before edging his fingers underneath the window pane and prying it open. About halfway up, the window got stuck and refused to open further. Conri rolled his eyes and managed to squeeze himself through the space available, grateful not for the first time that he had a slim build.

           

Conri straightened up in the dim hallway, his nose taking in the musty scent of neglect. He frowned to himself, wondering why John Malcolm would have lived all the way up here, seemingly all alone. As he walked along the corridor he paused at each door, listening intently. His inner wolf rose up just enough to help him confirm that no one resided inside the rooms, and had not done so for quite some time.

           

He had nearly arrived at the end the of the hallway when his shadow self nudged him. Conri stopped, turning to look at the door he was currently standing in front of. Alone of all the others, it had no numbers painted onto the wood. He edged closer, tilting his head slightly to listen within. There were no sounds, as with all the other rooms, but his nose told him that someone had been inside not too long ago. Conri took a pair of bent paperclips from his pocket and began to fiddle with the lock on the doorknob. After several tense moments, he heard the satisfying click that would allow him entrance into the room. With a grin of triumph Conri grasped the doorknob, turning it to enter the forlorn apartment.

           

As he looked around, his grin slowly faded into a look of utter confusion. _This isn’t where he lived_ , Conri mused to himself. _This is a hiding place_.

           

It seemed as if John Malcolm had turned this quaint apartment into a place to go when he needed privacy. As for what he actually did, that was slowly becoming apparent as Conri stepped delicately through the area. On every available table surface were scattered all manner of newspapers, photos, and hastily scribbled notes.

           

Conri stopped by one surface that seemed to have served as a dining table in its glory days. His eyes scanned over the different articles that had either been clipped from their original newspapers or held highlighted entries. All of them had to do with different announcements regarding events that had taken place throughout the city in the past few years.

           

_Wonder what Malcolm wanted with all of this information?_ Conri mused to himself as he moved on from the table and stepped into a different room. Here he could see more homey touches to what used to be a living room. The couch had blankets strewn upon it, along with two pillows. The small coffee table only had one large sheet of paper laid out that had its edges held down with cups.

           

Curious, Conri went over to the table and knelt down to get a better look. He recognized it immediately as a map of Aevum City, but along with the printed letters that made up street names and places of interest there were also handwritten scrawls. A frown appeared on his face as Conri leaned closer to the map, trying to figure out the man’s coded shorthand. At various areas, he would write something like **_5h - 4 PM.; no A_**. There were also days of the week hastily written next to these entries. Conri sat back against the old couch, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he gazed at the map. On a whim, he turned inward and addressed his shadow companion. _What do you think of this?_ Conri asked the wolf. The beast merely gazed back at him, his head tilted to side in contemplation. After a few moments, his ears flicked back and his lip curled in a silent snarl; a warning.

           

Moments later, Conri could hear the commotion of sirens gathering outside the building. The skin on his back crawled at the sound, apprehension mounting quickly and feeding his adrenaline. He stood up and was halfway out of the room before he doubled back and snatched the map from the coffee table. Conri quickly rolled it up and tucked it away into his jacket; he had no idea what purpose it had served John Malcolm, but it may prove worthy enough for him to find a way out of the city with his sister in tow.

           

Before Conri made his way out of the apartment, he ducked towards a window to glance down onto the street. Several cop cars were stalled on the road, with police officers roaming around and looking intently for something. Or someone. A few people had emerged from their homes to speak with the uniformed men. Conri grimaced and moved away from the glass. He wasted no more time as he left the apartment, shutting the door behind him carefully and using his paperclips to click the lock back into place.

           

With a swift pace, Conri made his way down the hall and back out of the window above the fire escape. He attempted to shut the paned glass behind him, but it was now irrevocably stuck. After uttering a few choice curse words, Conri gave up and began his tense climb back down the fire escape. He was hyper aware of the police officers that were still out on the street just around the corner from him. As he climbed carefully down the metal structure, he couldn’t help but wonder if anyone had seen him creeping around the building. Conri uttered another curse, angry with himself for not being more careful.

           

Finally, his feet met with solid ground. Conri let out a relieved breath before he hefted his guard into place once again, edging around the building to try and see if anyone had directed the cops to the apartment complex he had just vacated.

           

Thankfully, most of the officers had their backs turned, and the rest were too preoccupied with either speaking to the local residents or else wandering up and down the street, looking into shadowed areas that might hide their suspect. Conri couldn’t completely silence the faint intuition that he was the one they were looking for. His suspicions were only further confirmed when he saw the profile of Officer Richards.

           

Conri dared to edge a little further out, trying to catch what the man was saying to the woman he was questioning. He held up a picture, and with as much daring as he had, Conri drew strength from his shadow self to enhance his sight. Once the image on the paper became apparent, Conri could only utter one word; “Shit”.

           

Just as the woman nodded and pointed to the building he was currently hunkered by Conri took off, searching for some way to escape this neighborhood and get back to his own apartment.

           

After clambering around various trash bins and the fencing that separated the properties, Conri finally managed to make his way to the other end of the street. He looked back to make sure the police were still where he had left them before ducking across the road and down onto the next street.

           

He nearly let out a huff of relief when the sirens began wailing in the still air again. Conri immediately withdrew down a narrow alleyway, hiding among the shadows as several cop cars zoomed by him. Once their sirens faded away, he edged carefully back out into the open, fuming with frustration.

           

“How the hell am I going to do this?” Conri mused aloud. So many violent thoughts were running through his head that he was having difficulty trying to think straight and function as seamlessly as possible. He could not afford to panic now, not when the police were closing in on him.

           

His shadow self impressed an image upon the man’s mind then; they were in their wolf skin, running through the streets with nimble speed. Conri suppressed the urge to immediately lash out angrily at his animal companion. He knew he was simply afraid of losing control again, that if he entered his wolf skin then he would be lost, lunging at any soft flesh that dared to stray into his path. However, as a wolf he would be much faster, and he would be able to get back to his apartment before any police officers managed to pay them a visit. _If they haven’t already_ , Conri was forced to admit.

           

For a few minutes Conri simply stood there, agonizing over everything that could possibly go wrong. All the while his inner wolf stared out at him, watching carefully as one wild thought after another ran through his companion’s mind.

           

Finally, he handed control over to his wolf before he could change his mind. Conri managed to strip himself of his clothes and tuck the map securely between the folds of his jacket before the wolf skin took over, not willing to risk being caught stealing clothes again, especially with the city crawling with police. As soon as the shift took place, the wolf picked up the clothes in his mouth before taking off at a brisk gait, easily covering ground. He wisely stuck to the shadows, dashing across open spaces when he had to. All the while Conri kept a vigilant eye out for anyone roaming the streets, whether they were uniformed or not.

           

Before long, they made it to the beginning of their street. Conri let out a mental sigh of relief as his wolf companion trotted briskly along, eager to make it to safety. They were nearing the building when the distant sirens that had been a monotonous sound in the background grew louder. Panic kicked Conri’s nerves into high gear, and he urged his shadow self to abandon any finesse and just book it to the fire escape. The animal clambered up as fast as he could, the rattling metal muted against the horde of sirens that were turning onto his street. By the time the cars stopped in front of the building, Conri’s shadow self had nudged open his bedroom window and all but collapsed onto the floor in a heap.

           

Conri swiftly took over, standing up and shrugging on his clothes as quickly as he could and kicking the map under the bed. He had just managed to leave his room and force himself into composure when Luna’s door opened.

           

“Conri, what are you doing?” she asked raising an eyebrow.

           

“What does it look like I’m doing I’m going to watch TV,” Conri replied a little too quickly.

           

“You left.” A statement, not a question, and an accusatory one at that.

           

“I’ve been here the whole time,” Conri said firmly, making his way down the short hall and into their living room. Luna followed, clearly looking to get into another argument, but Conri was distracted by a knocking on their door.

           

Conri wavered for a moment before continuing his journey to the couch, sitting down resolutely and with a grim air. Luna stood on the other side of the room, arms crossed and a frosty expression on her face.

           

“Conri, what the hell did you do now?” she hissed angrily. Another knock on the door, more persistent this time.

           

“I did nothing. I’ve been here this whole time,” Conri repeated, refusing to meet his sister’s eyes.

           

Luna made to speak, maybe even yell at her brother, when outside their apartment their landlord’s voice rose.

           

“Would someone open this fucking door already?! Ya got visitors here to see you lazy bastards!”

           

Luna’s eyes sharpened, but Conri still refused to look her way. He eventually heard her angry stomping all the way to their door, yanking it open for their landlord.

           

“What?” Luna demanded none too kindly. Mr. Holloway’s wizened features wrinkled into a sneer as he stepped aside to reveal Officer Richards.

           

“Miss Kinsley, is your brother home?” he asked politely. By way of answer Luna retreated back into the apartment, standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed and her anger rolling off of her in waves. Conri resisted the urge to shoot her a glare; she was being far too transparent for their current company.

           

“Mr. Kinsley,” Officer Richards greeted Conri warmly, and to anyone else he may have seemed genuine. But the young man could see the cold glint of dark humor in his eyes. “I’d like to ask you a few questions, if I may?”

           

Conri nodded stiffly, watching Luna from the corner of his eye. She remained standing with her arms crossed, her eyes darting from Conri to Officer Richards.

           

“Where were you between the hours of eleven AM and twelve PM today?”

           

“I was here,” Conri replied as calmly as he could. His shadow self gave a brief feeling of support, bolstering his confidence.

           

“Miss Kinsley, can you attest to that?” Officer Richards turned to Luna, something Conri was hoping against hope that he wouldn’t do. He refused to look directly at his sister, but his ears were sharpened almost painfully to hear every little breath she took, waiting for the moment when she would either stick to her morals or try and protect him. Conri felt terrible for wanting Luna to be so sacrificing for him, but he was desperate. He made a vow that when all was said and done, he would explain everything. But they had to be somewhere safe and away from Lycus and his sickness.

           

“I’ve been in my room all morning. I cannot say one way or another if my brother has been here the whole time. I only saw him at breakfast,” Luna finally replied, her tone dripping with poison. But Conri couldn’t care less; his clever sister had given a non-answer, and Officer Richards wouldn’t be able to use her any further.

           

Yet the look on the older man’s face did not seem disheartened. He made a note on the pad of paper he always seemed to keep with him before turning back to Conri.

           

“So, you say you’ve been here at your apartment. Now, Mr. Kinsley, would you kindly explain why a witness has placed your face in front of fifty-six Fowler Street at roughly…eleven twenty-five this morning?”

           

“I can’t explain that, sir,” Conri replied defiantly. “Maybe they mistook another man for me.”

           

“Hmm,” Officer Richards hummed, making another note on his paper. He then returned his attention to Conri, looking up and down his tense figure. “Been doing some paint removal?” he asked, gesturing to Conri’s hands. Belatedly the young man looked down, noticing for the first time he had dried white paint chips stuck underneath his fingernails. He swallowed thickly, clenching his hands into fists.

           

“No, sir,” he said neutrally, refusing to look up at the older man. “The windows are old here. Paint’s been chipping off for years now.”

           

“Well that’s a bunch of bullshit!” Mr. Holloway suddenly snapped.

           

“Now why would you be opening windows at this time of year?” Officer Richards asked, ignoring the irate landlord.

           

“What, I can’t open my own fucking windows?” Now it was Conri who snapped, glaring up at the policeman with a mixture of irritation and hate. His shadow self whined, pressing the urge for caution into the man’s mind.

           

“Of course you can, Mr. Kinsley,” the older man remarked, making yet another note on his pad of paper. “It’s just unusual. Similar to how it’s unusual for people to willingly go out into the night with those…men lurking around.” Conri grit his jaw, trying to force himself to remain calm as Officer Richards glanced back up at him, a smug smile threatening to bloom onto his face. “Would you mind coming down to the station with us to get some fingerprints done?”

           

“…Fingerprints?” Conri found himself asking.

           

“Yes. We lifted some prints off of a window sill near a room where we have learned that John Malcolm tended to frequent. According to our onsite analysts, they match the fingerprints that were discovered on John Malcolm’s corpse. But, since you have been here all morning, you have nothing to worry about. It’s more formality than anything. Just weeding out the innocents and tracking down our suspect.”

           

Conri wanted nothing more than to rip into the man’s throat at that moment, his bloodlust digging at his will in an effort to do so. With a few shallow breaths Conri nodded stiffly, rising to his feet. His shadow self was pacing, worry rolling off of the animal. Conri forced his mind away from the wolf, knowing that there was nothing the beast could do for him now.

           

As Conri allowed himself to be ushered out of his apartment, he spared a look back at his sister. No longer were the fires of anger spitting from her eyes. Now, there was only stark worry and panic. He offered the best smile he could, trying to be as reassuring as he was able under the circumstances. But neither of them were fooled.


	19. Cornered

Cornered

 

Conri remained silent as he was driven to the police station, once again herded into the back of the car like so many other criminals who had been caught. Although his outward appearance could almost seem bored, inside his mind was raging. He was cursing himself for a fool, leaving such obvious traces of himself behind and bringing evidence back to his apartment without a second thought, even if he had had the presence of mind to lock John Malcolm’s door behind him. It wasn’t nearly enough. Now he was going to have his prints paired with the ones found at the apartment and on Malcolm’s corpse, and begin the tedious procedure of interrogations and further investigation. Only this time, the efforts of the police would be centered solely on Conri.

           

His shadow self was all motion; pacing in circles, ears flicking back and forth, nose rising to the air before dipping low and then back up again. If their situation hadn’t been so somber, Conri might have laughed at the animal’s behavior. As it was, he felt the tension from the wolf feeding his own, until they were both so strung out they could have leapt a hundred feet into the air if they tried.

           

And they nearly did when the passenger door suddenly swung open.

           

Conri snapped his head around, staring in bewilderment at the police station they were parked in front of. Officer Richards was standing by the open door, peering down at Conri with an odd expression. He cleared his throat and composed himself as best as he could, clambering out of the car and following the older man into the building.

           

It occurred to Conri that he had spent more time at the police station within the last month than he had ever done in his whole life. The thieving part of him felt disgusted that he had allowed himself to be caught so often. But then again, he had never had to deal with the likes of the gang directly before. And their constant involvement with his life and done nothing but aggravate his carefully structured boundaries between his humanity and his inner beast.

           

This time, instead of heading down the hall that housed the interrogation rooms, Officer Richards led Conri through the main lobby and to a hall in the back. The rooms they passed seemed to all be jumbled together in their purposes. Some appeared to serve as offices, others were storage spaces, and the rest just seemed to be miscellaneous.

           

Eventually Officer Richards came to a room he deemed suitable and ushered Conri in ahead of him. He complied, only to balk at the sight of the height poster tacked up along one wall with a camera set a short distance from it. He felt his chest rumble in a nearly silent growl, realizing this was a room to book criminals, not to get fingerprints.

           

The man behind Conri let out a low chuckle, almost too soft to hear as he moved farther into the room. “We’ll be doing your prints over here, Mr. Kinsley,” Officer Richards motioned over to a table off to the side that Conri had failed to notice. Even so, he eyed the camera set-up with distrust as he slowly made his way over to the table.

           

The fingerprinting went by quickly, though Conri was loathe to let the officer manhandled his fingers from the ink pad and onto the sheet of paper. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say Officer Richards was purposefully exerting more force on his hands and fingers than was necessary, and by the time the prints were done Conri felt like his bones had been rubbed raw.

           

The uniformed man called in one of his coworkers to collect the paper with Conri’s prints while Conri himself stood off to the side, stiff and coiled to bolt at a moment’s notice. Though, considering where he was, he doubted he’d get very far. _I could always turn wolf…_ Conri mused with grim amusement. As tempting as that idea was, surprisingly enough, that would just make things all the worse for him.

           

He was snapped out of his reverie by Officer Richards, who took a firm grasp of Conri’s upper arm and steered him out of the room. Conri followed, having been left no other choice, but resentment boiled under his skin. He was being treated like they had already made up their minds and they were going to be arresting him shortly. Surely that couldn’t be the case…right?

           

Officer Richards guided Conri down the hall back to the main lobby, only to make a sharp left and drag him down another hallway. Here there were no doors, only a straight shot down to the open doorway on the other end. As they got closer, Conri could hear the voices of a few people within the distant room, chatting away. Despite the ease of their tones, Conri felt his apprehension spike and at the same time his inner wolf pulled back his lip to snarl quietly, his hackles raised.

           

As they entered the room, Conri took in the sight of the two desks situated on either side of the doorway. Beyond that, there were eight cell blocks that already housed at least three people, one of whom he would have presumed dead if he couldn’t clearly see the slight rise and fall of his chest.

           

Conri balked, his panic overriding any sense of caution he had managed to cling to. The other officers in the room turned to see their newest addition. Two of them chuckled at Conri’s blatant display of dread. The third merely frowned.

           

“Come on, Richards, do you have to manhandle all of your perps?” he remarked sourly, looking at Conri with some sympathy. “What did he even do?”

           

“Mr. Kinsley is being considered as a potential suspect for the Shells Murders case,” Officer Richards replied with a cold glint to his tone. “He’s going to be held here until his fingerprints have been examined.”

           

“ _What_?!” Conri exclaimed, digging his feet into the tiled floor.

           

“Jesus, Richards, you have shit timing,” the man said with a shake of his head. “Our analysts are already swamped with hundreds of other fingerprints they’re looking into. You really expect us to keep this kid here all night-”

           

“That’s exactly what I expect, Morgan,” Officer Richards overrode his colleague impatiently, staring down at the man with a cocky air. “Now, Mr. Kinsley, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way.” He looked over at Conri with a grin that assured the young man he would love nothing more than to have him struggle. Conri grit his jaw, trying to ignore the tittering of the two officers while the third, Morgan, merely sighed.

           

“At least let me call my sister. I do get a phone call, right?” Conri demanded, staring down the older man as defiantly as he could with his arm twisted in the officer’s grasp. For a moment, Officer Richards looked like he would refuse. But a discreet cough from one of Officer Morgan behind them made his resolve crumble unwillingly.

           

“Yes, you can make a phone call. Only one,” Officer Richards relented, steering Conri over to the phones on the other side of the room. There, the man finally released his death grip and Conri had to suppress the wince that threatened to bloom onto his face. The man had a tight grip.

           

Conri shot Officer Richards one last glare before he picked a phone, dialing his home number. As he waited for his sister to pick up, Conri wondered what he could possibly say to her to make everything okay. _Who am I kidding? None of this is okay_ , Conri thought ruefully to himself.

           

After several rings, the line finally picked up. “Hello?” Luna’s voice sounded dejected, making Conri’s guilt weigh all the more heavily in his stomach.

           

“Luna, it’s me,” Conri said, turning his body to assure some semblance of privacy, though it was a slim hope at best.

           

“Conri! When are you coming home?”

           

Conri winced, trying to prepare himself for the inevitable onslaught that his sister was sure to dish out. “I…I won’t be coming home. At least not tonight.”

           

There was a long silence on the other end of the line, making Conri increasingly uncomfortable as he felt the piercing stare of Officer Richards on his back.

           

“What have you done?” Conri had never heard his sister sound so hopeless. It nearly broke his heart.

           

“Luna, I’ll be back home soon. I promise. I just have to stay here until they clear me as a…well, anyway I _will_ come home,” he tried to console her. And he would be back. He would make damn sure of that.

           

“And then how long would it be until you got arrested for something else, Conri? I know you, I know you wouldn’t do any of the things you’re being accused of. But just the fact that you are being considered as a fucking _suspect_! What have you been doing to make the police think you’re the one who killed all those people?”

           

“I’ve been doing the same thing I’ve done since we left that orphanage; trying to keep us alive,” Conri muttered into the phone. “Please, Luna, just trust me on this. I’ll be home tomorrow, okay?”

           

Another pregnant pause. And then, “Okay.” Luna hung up shortly after, not bothering to say goodbye. Conri didn’t blame her.

           

“Alright, Mr. Kinsley, you’ve had your phone call,” Officer Richards stated, resealing his tight grip on Conri’s arm and steering him back toward the cells. Conri clenched his jaw in an effort not to let out the vicious growl that threatened to emanate from his chest. His shadow self was no help, consistently vibrating with snarls and growls since they had arrived in this area.

           

He was led down the row of cells until he was brought to the last one on the right. Conri was glad that, at the very least, he would be well away from the others who were locked away in here. He wondered briefly what they had done as he was shoved none too kindly into the cell, Officer Richards locking the door behind him with something akin to a smirk on his face. Conri glared at his retreating back before taking in his home for the night.

           

As he had expected, there was hardly anything in the cell. A small cot shoved against one wall was the only furnishing in the area. A small window was set high up opposite the cell door with bars lining the opening. Conri eyed the window, trying to judge its width from where he stood.

           

His shadow self suddenly shoved an image into the man’s mind; a lithe wolf squeezing through the iron bars of the cells before running off into the night. Conri blinked and refocused his attention on the window. It was high up, but maybe in their wolf form they could manage it.

           

Then, Conri turned his attention to the other guests of the holding cells. One of them eyed Conri, his stare clearly telling him to ‘fuck off’. The other sat on her bed, tapping her finger against her thigh in a rhythmic motion. The third was still passed out in the corner of his cell. _Wonder if I’ll be able to escape without these people noticing_ , Conri thought to himself bitterly. Part of him, the more rational side, said to just hunker down and wait. Maybe the prints they got from the window and the door would be too smudged for a proper analysis. Even though he was considered a suspect he had yet to be officially charged of anything. But then again, considering who was running this city it wasn’t likely that things would be done ‘by the book’. Especially where Officer Richards was involved.

           

Conri let out a huff, turning to the other part of his psyche that he was more inclined to listen to. The part of him that held the wolf, that longed for freedom and knew damn well what danger they would be in if they stayed for too much longer.

           

Of course, nothing could be done just yet when he was in plain sight of seven other people.

           

So Conri relented and sat down on his cot, grimacing at the lumpiness of the mattress. He had always thought his own mattress back home was shit, but now he realized that it was practically heaven compared to the cell beds.

           

_Well, it’s not like I plan to sleep here for too long_ , Conri mused silently to his inner wolf. He settled his back against the cold concrete wall and closed his eyes, intent on getting some rest if he was going to go through with his shaky plan, if it could even be called that. Really, he was just going to be acting on instinct, something that gave him cause to worry about the bloodlust that he could feel simmering below the façade of control he had managed to cling to. But he had little other choice.

           

With a final sigh, Conri arranged himself as comfortably as he could, his shadow self rising to the surface briefly to croon his canine song into the man’s weary bones.


	20. Bond

Bond

 

Conri was jolted awake by the ringing sound of metal clanging. Both he and his shadow self cringed at the piercing noise, the young man pushing himself upright and turning to glare at whoever had the nerve to cause such a racket.

           

Of course, it had to be Officer Richards.

           

However, instead of the cocky smirk that he seemed to enjoy wearing around Conri, the older man appeared tense and on edge. He only had a moment to ponder this before the officer said, “You have a visitor, Mr. Kinsley.”

           

Conri’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion; who would be visiting him? Certainly not Luna. She was too angry and upset as it was, she wouldn’t come to the police station just to see him. Conri hesitantly stood up from his cot as Officer Richards left. He noted that it was dusk outside, and that the holding cell area was far emptier now. Only Officer Richards and the kind man from before remained. Even the other jailbirds were gone.

           

As he refocused his attention back to the door of his cell, Conri’s stomach dropped to his feet. Lycus’ wolfish grin greeted him, his eyes glinting with a malicious glee that could make stone crawl.

           

“What are you doing here?” Conri asked in an undertone, his voice shaking from either anger or fright; he couldn’t tell.

           

“Well, I just had to see this for myself. Imagine my surprise when I heard that a wolf had actually managed to be outwitted by a bunch of sheep. I mean,” Lycus let out a dark chuckle, “it’s rather pathetic.”

           

“ _You’re_ the one who’s been sending these cops after me!” Conri hissed, the assurance of the iron bars between the two of them making him far more reckless than he had ever been with the alpha. This only served to amuse Lycus even more.

           

“And you, as a wolf spirit, could easily have thrown them off your trail. Or, better yet, just put them in their place. But no, Conri, you did none of that, did you? You snuck around, hiding and lying and appeasing the flock.” Lycus shook his head, his eyes glazing over in barely concealed rage. “We had a deal that I would let you think over my proposal for a month. But you know what? I beginning to suspect it’s been a waste of my time trying to get through to you. Perhaps you’re not pack material after all.”

           

Conri stood there, frozen, trying to make sense of what Lycus was saying. “So…what does that mean for me?” he asked warily.

           

Lycus grinned, his sharp teeth glinting in the dull light of the holding cells. “Well now, that is an excellent question. I have pondered over what fate would be best for a pathetic runt like yourself, but since you are tied to the murders of late I’d say it’s only fair that you do your time here and accept the consequences. After all, I do have a job to do and I can certainly think of a myriad of other things that are far worthier of my attention.” Lycus gave a chuckle and turned to leave, only to spin back around with a renewed glint in his eyes. “Oh, and don’t worry about your little sister. She’ll be in good company.”

           

With a final wave Lycus strutted away, commanding Officer Richards to tag along after him with a single crook of his finger. Then, there was only Officer Morgan left. For several long minutes, Conri could only stand there. His mind had ground to a halt, and his very soul felt shaken to its core.

           

_Luna…I-I have- help Luna…I have to…_ Conri’s thoughts were a jumbles mess of misshapen sentences. He began to pace within the small area of his cell, oblivious to the remaining officer only a few yards away. As he moved with jerking motions and sharp turns, his shadow self mirrored his actions, only with more finesse and grace than his human companion. Every so often Conri would turn his head toward the window, and they would both gaze at the metal fixtures of the bars before resuming their manic walking.

           

Heavy footsteps ripped Conri away from his pacing, his head turning to see Officer Richards returning, somewhat paler than before. He leaned down to whisper something to his fellow officer, and with a curt nod the man left the room once again.

           

Conri narrowed his eyes at the doorway he had disappeared through, his mind clearing in a single moment. His switched his gaze to Officer Morgan, and his stony expression softened the tiniest bit. Even without the help of his shadow self, he could tell that this man was one of the few good cops left. And if he could avoid it, he’d rather not harm someone who was innocent.

           

Abruptly, Conri went over to his cot and laid down, closing his eyes as if to sleep. But he didn’t go to sleep. Instead, he and his shadow self rose together to sharpen their ears and noses. Conri could hear the police officer muttering under his breath as he scribbled something down on a pad of paper. He then turned their attention to the outside, where the city was silent in the night. Only a slight breeze every now and then would disturb the trash that lined the gutters and alleyways.

           

A cough brought their focus back to Officer Morgan, who stood up from his chair. His footsteps came down the length of the room towards Conri’s cell. He forced his breathing to be slow and deep, feigning sleep. Eventually the footsteps stopped, and there was a moment of silence before the police officer sighed, muttering, “he’ll be fine for a couple minutes,” and headed back to his desk. He rummaged around the drawers for a few moments before his steps became more distant. A door opened and closed, and then silence fell over the holding cells.

           

Conri’s eyes flew open, and he turned his head toward the door just to make sure that the officer had truly left. A bitter smile graced his face as he swung his legs over the edge of the cot and stood up.

           

Even though he had precious little time, Conri hesitated. His shadow self was prowling within, waiting with bare patience as his lips curled back in a silent snarl; he wanted nothing more than to hunt the pack down and tear them apart for daring to threaten one of his own. And although Conri could wholeheartedly agree with the wolf, he still balked at the idea. He was afraid of losing control, of being so consumed by bloodlust that he would hurt innocent people along the way. _And hurt Luna…_ he silently admitted, shame coloring his face.

           

Conri took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Then, he proceeded to strip himself bare of his clothes, shoving them through the bars of his window; he had to stand on his toes in order to do so. Doubt flashed through his mind as he stared up at the opening, but he had to trust his shadow self. He had no other choice if he wanted to save his sister.

           

As soon as the thought faded from his mind they shifted, human flesh giving way to the fur of the wolf. The creature shook himself briefly, reveling in being able to move freely before he turned his head up to the window. From the wolf’s height, it seemed so much farther away. His shadow self sent a brief flash of amusement at the man’s cringing before crouching down and taking a flying leap into the air.

           

His aim was solid. The wolf managed to cling to the sill of the window before the rest of his body slammed into the wall. After much scrambling, the beast managed to get purchase on the stone with his hind legs, and for a moment he simply hung there. Conri lent some strength to the wolf to stop the trembling of his limbs as he fought to stay aloft.

           

Letting out a huff, the wolf began to inch his way up, gradually sliding forward until his head was through the bars. Conri looked on, holding his breath in anticipation. It seemed like this might actually work. He began making plans of what he’d do once he was out of the cell. He’d have to go back to the apartment, just to make sure that Luna was there. And if she wasn’t…Conri knew her scent as well as his own. He would just have to hunt her down, and face the pack if need be.

           

A shudder ran through him at the thought, but then he realized he wasn’t the only one. His shadow self was growling low in his throat, trying to wedge his upper body through the bars, but he was just too wide for them. With a loud snarl he threw himself backwards, stumbling against the concrete floor of their cell. Conri felt a wave of fear and anger hit him, and he tried to get his companion to leap up to the window again. _Come on, you can do it! We were so close, just…please!_ Conri begged.

           

His wolf companion flicked his ears back in annoyance, though if it was at himself or Conri, the man couldn’t tell. After a few moments of staring up at the window the wolf seemed to come to a decision, for he slunk low to the ground and situated himself underneath the cot.

           

If Conri had had control of his human form, he would have screamed in frustration. As it was, he had to settle for pacing furiously within the wolf’s soul. His shadow self let out a low rumble; not quite a growl, but not a purr either. Conri didn’t know what he meant by the sound, but he stopped his pacing regardless. It seemed he could only wait and see what his animal companion had in mind.

           

The sound of the door opening and closing again caught his attention. Both he and the wolf stilled, listening intently as the man’s footsteps walked over to his desk. There was a sigh as the police officer sat down, and then the dull thud of his feet being propped up onto his desk. Conri held his breath, waiting for the inevitable.

           

It came mere moments later.

           

“What the fuck?” Officer Morgan muttered. There was a loud scrapping sound as the chair was pushed forcefully back, his movements now hurried and loud. He quickly ran toward the end cell, where Conri’s shadow self still lurked in the darkness underneath the cot. The wolf shifted, his muscles tensing in anticipation.

           

The police officer swore again, and the jangle of keys sounded far too loud in the otherwise quiet room. With one swift movement, the man unlocked the cell door and stepped inside.

           

The wolf flew out of his hiding place, his teeth drawn back in a snarl of warning. It was enough to make the older man yell in shock and stumble backwards, completely forgetting about his gun. But it wouldn’t last long, and both Conri and his shadow self knew it. They bolted as fast as they could, streaking down the length of the room before the wolf leapt into the air and slammed his body through the glass windows of the doors. The sting of many small cuts registered in Conri’s mind, but it was pushed aside as adrenaline coaxed them forward once more.

           

The hallway was a blur of shadows and shapes as they flew onward, stumbling into the still occupied main lobby. Conri let out a low curse as his shadow self began to dodge and weave between police officers. Some of them were too shocked to do anything but jump out of the animal’s way, but others were quick to react, much to Conri’s chagrin.

           

Several shots began to echo within the lobby, ringing painfully in the wolf’s ears. He flicked them back against his skull and pushed himself faster, his only target the doors to the outside. Once again, he hurled himself through the glass panes just as a searing pain flared along their hind leg.

           

The wolf let out a pained yelp, but pushed himself forward, tearing around the corner of the building as the officers came pouring out. He maneuvered his way toward the back, picking up Conri’s clothes in his mouth before taking off at a run again, swiftly melting into the shadows of the city.

           

They ran for five straight blocks before the wolf had to duck down a small alcove and rest. He was panting heavily, the burning pain in his leg throbbing. Conri tried to pour as much of his strength into the wolf as he could while at the same time cursing the police. But he really couldn’t blame them; living in a city where wolves terrorized them on a daily basis, it was natural they would attack if at all possible. Especially with one lone animal running through the station.

           

Conri heaved a sigh and turned his attention to their hind leg to assess the damage. It hurt. A lot. But he didn’t think they had a bullet lodged in their limb, which was a small blessing. But the bullet did leave a nasty gouge, and blood was flowing freely down their leg and dripping onto the already dirty pavement.

           

It was getting late. Every moment spent resting was a moment more that Luna was in danger. Conri debated with himself furiously, pacing anxiously within the wolf while his shadow self leaned against the wall of the nearby building for support. Finally, he came to a decision. With a nudge to the wolf, he indicated that they should switch back over to their human skin. The wolf snarled at the idea, knowing Conri would have a harder time dealing with the pain as a human, but the young man insisted. He could not sit around and wait all because of a bullet scratch, however painful it might be. He needed to get to his sister. Now.

           

With a huff the wolf relented, giving control back to Conri. As Conri tried to straighten up he came crashing back down to the ground as the pain in his leg flared monumentally.

           

“God… _fuck_!” Conri hissed, looking down at his bloodied left leg, seeing for himself just how deep the scratch went. He grit his teeth and forced himself back up, grabbing at his clothes. He tore his shirt up into strips and began to bind his wound. He nearly bit his tongue against the pain, a constant stream of curses flowing in his mind. Within moments he had a makeshift bandage that would, hopefully, stop the bleeding.

           

He let out a shaky breath and scooted back to an upright position, leaning against the wall as his wolf companion had done. He eased his pants back on, and then threw his jacket over his bare torso. He shoved his feet into his shoes and allowed himself a brief moment of rest before pushing himself away from the wall and drinking in the night air.

           

The stench of Aevum City was always hard to sift through, but with each breath that flowed through his nostrils Conri was able to pick out separate strands. It took several long moments before he found the one he was looking for. Her scent was faint, far away, and that made his heart leap into his throat. With a snarl, Conri forced his injured leg into a limping jog, his shadow self lending him strength.

           

He had made it a few more blocks when the wind shifted and brought the stench of the pack to his nose, far too potent for his liking. Conri uttered a low curse and ducked into the shadow of a nearby building, waiting tensely for them to appear.

           

“Conri! Come out, come out, wherever you are!” The alpha’s voice sounded sickeningly playful, as if he was having the time of his life. “Come now, don’t you want to see your sister?”

           

_Luna!_ Conri sniffed the air with tense hope, and sure enough hidden among the stench of the pack was her scent, so light and airy. With a growl, he stepped out from behind the building to stare down Lycus and his gang, his shadow self snarling viciously at the arrogant man.

           

“Well, Conri. Yet again you defy all expectations,” Lycus remarked, grinning as he observed Conri’s limp. “Now that does seem like a nasty wound. I could smell your blood halfway across the city.”

           

“What did you do to my sister?!” Conri demanded, his eyes locked onto the limp figure of Luna carelessly dumped on the ground in the middle of the pack. If he hadn’t known any better, he’d say she was sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the danger she was in.

           

“A simple, not-so-mild sedative. Rest assured, no harm has befouled your precious family,” Lycus replied with a smirk. “Yet, that is,” he added as an afterthought.

           

“Jesus christ, what the hell do you want from me?!” Conri glared daggers at Lycus, desiring nothing more than to tear the smug bastard limb from limb. His shadow self agreed, pacing menacingly within. Conri could feel the bloodlust creeping up his spine, sensing his anger and eager to fuel it. Lycus, it seemed, also sensed it for his grin became even wider.

           

“You know perfectly well what I want, Conri. Join my pack. A simple yes, and all of this,” he indicated with a wave of his hand to Luna behind him and the distant sirens that began to permeate the night air, “will go away. Your life will become infinitely easier, and all will be as it should.”

           

“You say you want me to join your pack and yet you kept sending the cops after me! How can I trust that you won’t try it again?” Conri spat, curling his hands into fists.

           

“Lessons need to be given to ignorant pups, my dear boy,” Lycus said airily, walking back to where his pack stood. They easily melted to the side and, much to Conri’s fury, Lycus grabbed hold of Luna’s hair and dragged her forward until they were mere feet away.

           

“Now then,” Lycus remarked, flicking open a lethal looking blade from his pocket and lifting his sister up higher off the ground. “An answer, if you please.”

           

“Don’t hurt her!” Conri cried out, stepping forward on instinct only to be brought short by the cold metal blade being pressed against Luna’s unconscious neck.

           

“Ah, ah, ah, Conri! Answer me, _now_. We wouldn’t want something unfortunate to happen to dear little Luna, now, would we?” Lycus peered at Conri, his expression smug and dark.

           

Conri’s eyes flickered between Lycus and his sister, trying desperately to think of an escape plan. His inner wolf whined, his ears flat against his skull.

           

“For every five seconds you don’t answer, I will tear a strip of flesh from this lovely creature and feed it to my pack. Rest assured, they’re not picky with the quality of their toys,” Lycus threatened, digging the blade a little deeper into Luna’s neck so that a trickle of blood flowed down her pale skin. “Five…”

           

He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t join this pack.

           

“Four…”

           

But he couldn’t let Lycus hurt his sister.

           

“Three…”

           

He had made a promise to never let anything bad happen to Luna. He had worked too hard for too long to let that promise break now.

           

“Two-”

           

“ _Okay_! Okay I’ll do it, I’ll join your pack just let her go!” Conri yelled, panic overriding everything else.

           

Lycus grinned and dropped Luna unceremoniously onto the asphalt. Within a few strides he was right in Conri’s face, grabbing his right hand and digging the blade that had been pressed against Luna’s skin into his own flesh. Conri winced, and he only had a moment to register Lycus doing the same to his own palm before the man grabbed hold of his hand. A searing burn flared between their hands, itching its way through his veins, and Conri knew instinctively that this was a permanent bond. There would be no escape for him now.

           

“Welcome to the pack, Conri,” Lycus said with a feral grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thanks to everyone who took the time to read this story! Stayed tuned for the sequel! But that won't be for a while so...go forth and read other stories while you wait.


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